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LIGHT 

FOR  NEW  TIMES 

A BOOK  FOR  CATHOLIC  GIRLS 


By 

MARGARET  FLETCHER 

OXFORD,  ENGLAND 


yf' 


With  a Preface  by 


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W.  D.  STRAPPING  SJ.^ 


Wfe. 


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'Cfj  sCii<3 


New  York,  Cincinnati  Chicago 
BENZIGER  BROTHERS 

Printers  to  the  Holy  Apostolic  See 


J 905 


Nihil  obstat: 

Remy  Lafort, 

Censor  Librorum. 

Imprimatur : 

* JOHN  M.  FARLEY* 

Archbishop  of  New  York . 


New  York,  May  27,  1905. 


PREFACE 

The  nineteenth  century,  era  of  change  and 
of  unexpected  developments  as  it  was,  has 
brought  about  no  change  greater  than  the 
present  altered  position  of  English  women. 
That  certain  fixed  peculiarities  must  differ- 
entiate the  sexes  will  always  be  true,  and 
these  must  largely  shape  their  respective 
pathways  in  life.  Actual  experience  in  our 
own  days,  however,  has  made  us  readjust 
many  of  the  traditional  ideas  as  to  the  essen- 
tial physical  weakness  and  mental  inferiority 
of  women.  The  mental  capacity  of  girls  has 
been  proved  to  be  no  less  susceptible  of  educa- 
tional elevation  than  that  of  boys ; while  the 
increased  stature  so  noticeable  in  the  women 
of  the  present  generation  speaks  for  itself  as 
to  their  physical  development. 

Together  with  the  discovery,  as  we  may 
almost  call  it,  of  the  intellectual  and  admin- 
istrative possibilities  latent  in  women — latent 
through  want  of  training  and  opportunity — 
there  has  come  the  necessity  for  many  of 
them  to  enter  more  largely  into  the  active 
life  of  the  nation.  Boards  of  guardians, 


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school  boards,  inspectorships,  and  many 
other  positions  which  affect  the  welfare  of 
the  community,  no  less  than  the  successful 
management  of  important  industrial  enter- 
prises, have  all  shown  what  abilities  women 
possess  and  their  power  of  using  their  abili- 
ties. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  century  a new 
order  of  things  was  looming  on  the  horizon, 
and  we  are  now  face  to  face  with  some  of 
those  new  developments.  Under  modern 
conditions — conditions  which  have  not  halt- 
ed, but  are  still  on  the  march — the  numbers 
of  women  as  compared  with  men  introduces 
a new  problem,  and  requires  a new  solution 
for  many  problems  that  are  old.  Only  a pro- 
portion of  women  will  enter  upon  what  has 
hitherto  been  deemed  the  natural,  almost  ex- 
clusive, career  of  womankind — matrimony — 
from  sheer  lack  of  partners.  Many  women, 
in  increasing  numbers,  must  perforce  be  their 
own  breadwinners. 

Our  generation,  like  its  predecessors,  in- 
herited the  tradition  that  woman  was  em- 
phatically a being  to  be  taken  care  of;  one 
not  to  be  trusted,  but  hedged  in  by  material 
safeguards  and  social  regulations,  unwritten, 
but  rigid  as  granite.  Safeguards  there  must 
be,  and  social  boundaries,  but  the  nature  of 
these  safeguards  requires  adjustment  from 
changing  circumstances,  and  boundaries  may 
have  to  be  moved  further  on,  without,  how- 


Preface 


v 


ever,  ceasing  to  be  boundaries.  The  new 
century  opens  with  a new  idea  that  woman  is 
a being  who  must  also  be  taught  to  take  care 
of  herself,  to  depend  on  herself,  and  even  at 
times  to  take  a share  in  carrying  burdens 
hitherto  exclusively  reserved  for  the  shoul- 
ders of  men. 

These  are  some  of  the  new  materials  which 
have  to  be  woven  into  the  fabric  of  life.  It 
is  for  us  so  to  arrange  things  that  these  new 
requirements  may  be  fulfilled  without  any 
sacrifice  of  those  qualities  of  heart  and  mind 
which  form  the  charm,  the  refining  influence, 
the  moral  elevation  of  womankind.  The 
charm,  the  refining  influence,  the  moral  eleva- 
tion of  woman,  is  not  for  herself  alone;  she 
is  the  guardian  of  these  qualities,  which 
flourish  not  exclusively,  but  most  richly,  in 
her  nature.  To  a large  extent  she  holds  them 
in  trust  for  the  human  race,  and  how  very 
much  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  she 
fulfils  that  trust,  or  shall  we  say,  is  taught  to 
fulfil  it ! 

When  Eve  was  given  to  Adam  she  was 
given  as  a help,  but  also  as  an  equal.  The 
Catholic  Church  has  always  recognized  this 
equality  of  the  sexes ; and,  as  in  the  case  of 
St.  Hilda  of  Whitby,  has  not  hesitated  to 
commit  the  care  of  a monastery  of  men  to  an 
abbess.  The  misnamed  Reformation  lowered 
the  position  of  woman,  and  this  lowering  of 
her  position  is  incidentally  brought  out  by 


VI 


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the  words  interpolated  into  the  marriage  ser- 
vice by  the  Anglican  Church,  when  the  wife 
is  made  to  acknowledge  her  inferiority  when 
she  promises  to  obey  her  husband.  This 
promise  has  no  place  in  Catholic  tradition. 
Catholic  marriage  is  a contract  between 
equals.  The  Catholic  formula  is  identically 
the  same  for  both  man  and  wife;  the  same 
laws  and  the  same  duties  are  incumbent  upon 
both.  It  was  the  new  religion  of  the  sixteenth 
century  which  debased  the  status  of  woman, 
and  invented  excuses  to  emancipate  man 
from  the  observance  of  commandments 
which  bind  in  exactly  the  same  way  both 
man  and  woman.  Eve  was  the  equal,  as 
well  as  the  helpmate,  of  Adam.  She  failed 
in  her  trust ; she  did  not  help,  and  she  had  to 
bear  the  punishment  of  her  unfaithfulness. 
Her  daughters  have  shared  her  punishment, 
and  have  borne  the  burden  of  her  sin  both  as 
individuals  and  as  a body.  In  the  treatment 
meted  out  to  woman  in  pre-Christian  times 
and  in  non-Christian  nations  we  see  how  she 
paid  the  penalty  for  having  lowered,  and  not 
raised,  the  moral  standard  of  mankind. 

But  another  Eve  came,  and  with  the  com- 
ing of  Mary  Immaculate  the  social  redemp- 
tion of  woman  was  begun : it  would  now  be 
possible  for  woman  to  regain  her  legitimate 
influence.  Yet  not  at  once.  For  woman’s 
influence,  being  gentle  and  persuasive,  reach- 
ing the  head  through  the  heart,  could  not 


Preface 


Vll 


flourish  in  the  wild  storm  of  passions  let 
loose  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire. Centuries  must  come  and  go ; the  rooted 
prejudices  engendered  by  the  persistence  of 
one  type  of  ideals  must  fade  away,  through 
the  old  order  itself  changing  and  insensibly 
giving  place  to  the  new.  The  upheavals  of 
social  and  religious  origin  must  be  calmed 
down,  sufficiently,  if  not  entirely ; then,  when 
the  storm  has  swept  away  into  the  distance 
and  left  peace,  even  with  wreckage,  in  its 
track,  then  with  returning  calm  the  gentler 
forces  of  nature  could  work. 

It  is  a coincidence — it  may  be  more — that 
the  various  currents  of  opinion  which  were 
working  in  many  quarters  for  what  we  may 
conveniently,  if  not  quite  accurately,  term 
the  emancipation  of  women,  came  into  prom- 
inence about  the  time  of  the  declaration  of 
the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 
It  was  a happy  coincidence,  and,  let  us  also 
say,  a good  augury.  A new  era  for  women 
was  beginning,  and  what  model  could  be 
more  appropriate  than  Mary?  In  every 
change  there  is  contained  more  or  less  of  a 
reaction;  the  reaction  comes  about  by  the 
awakening  of  forces  hitherto  inoperative, 
and  in  the  new-born  vigor  of  new  forces  there 
is  apt  to  be  too  much  of  a reaction.  When 
justly  condemning  the  “too  much,”  many  fail 
to  distinguish,  and  condemn  the  reaction  it- 
self, with  apparent  reason.  With  all  new 


viii  Light  for  New  Times 

manifestations,  time  and  developments  are 
needed  before  we  can  pass  a fair  and  equable 
verdict.  So  we  must  not  be  surprised  if  the 
flood  of  new  ideas  involved  in  the  emancipa- 
tion of  woman  flowed  too  far  at  first.  That 
was  only  to  be  expected.  Yet  not  all  the 
flood  will  flow  back  into  the  original  chan- 
nel; many  of  its  waters  have  come  to  stay. 
What  are  we  going  to  do  with  them  ? We 
cannot  dry  up  these  waters,  even  if  we  would ; 
but  why  dry  them  up?  They  are  fertilizing 
waters,  if  we  know  how  to  conduct  them  to 
arid  places;  if  we  leave  them  alone  they  may 
form  unhealthy  pools,  unsightly,  and  sources 
of  danger.  But  let  me  drop  metaphor.  We 
all  realize  that  changed  conditions  of  life 
necessitate  changed  conditions  of  education. 
It  is  no  disparagement  of  the  older  methods 
to  say  that  they  will  not  fit  our  new  develop- 
ments. They  were  never  meant  to  cope  with 
issues  to  them  unknown.  They  were  wisely 
framed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  their  day 
— we  must  as  wisely  legislate  for  the  require- 
ments of  our  own.  The  essays  in  this  little 
book  are  a contribution — one  of  many,  I hope 
— to  meet  some  actual  requirements  of  our 
passing  day;  to  enable  girls  who  leave  our 
schools  with  light  hearts,  and  some  with 
heads  as  light,  to  enter  upon  the  life  which 
succeeds  school  days  with  some  practical 
warning  as  to  what  the  realities  of  life  will 
be.  Knowledge,  we  are  truly  told,  is  power ; 


Preface 


IX. 


and  the  career  of  many  girls  has  suffered  an 
early  shipwreck  for  want  of  that  power 
which  comes  from  knowledge.  Not  all  can 
be  helped,  indeed,  not  all  will  let  themselves 
be  helped ; that  does  not  absolve  us  from  at 
least  making  some  attempts.  There  is  a gap 
in  our  Catholic  literature  for  girls  which 
needs  filling  up,  and  all  earnest  and  practical 
and  intelligent  efforts  to  fill  this  gap  should 
receive  the  welcome  they  deserve. 

W.  D.  Strapping  S.J. 

Oxford,  1903. 


CONTENTS 

& 

CHAPTER  I 

‘‘Without  the  Way  there  is  no  going” 

CHAPTER  II 

Liberty 


CHAPTER  III 

Responsibility  ... 

CHAPTER  IV 


PAGE 
. . . I 

. ..  2 6 

40 


Professional  Life 


58 


rJ 


LIGHT  FOR  NEW  TIMES 

I 

“Without  the  Way  there  is  no  going ”* 

These  pages  are  written  for  any  girl  who 
will  read  them,  but  with  the  particular  hope 
that  they  may  most  often  fall  into  the  hands 
of  those  in  whom  the  joy  of  life  runs  strongly 
and  who  dream  of  living  strenuously  in  one 
way  or  another. 

Experience  of  life  has  convinced  me,  on 
the  one  hand,  how  appreciative  mankind  can 
be  when  woman  approaches  at  all  near  to 
any  ideals  that  have  been  formed  for  her,  and 
if  possessed  of  any  supernatural  or  spiritual 
beauty,  how  touchingly  ready  to  reverence 
her  and  even  to  be  led  by  her;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  how  disastrous  the  influence  of 
the  merely  natural  woman  usually  is,  how 
within  the  circle  of  her  influence  all  ideals 
wither,  and  while  the  natural  in  man  leads 


* A Kempis. 


2 Light  for  New  Times 


him  to  seek  and  follow  her  to  his  deteriora- 
tion and  ruin,  he  knows  her  at  last  for  the 
enemy  of  his  soul. 

I have  observed,  besides,  a large  company 
of  women,  without  much  influence  as  indi- 
viduals either  for  good  or  evil,  victims  of  a 
false  education,  who  drift  aimlessly  along  at 
the  mercy  of  any  stray  current  of  thought, 
without  any  definite  understanding  of  their 
own  nature  or  any  clear  idea  of  the  real 
meaning  of  life.  Although  their  personal 
significance  is  small,  they  enervate  the  so- 
ciety to  which  they  belong  by  the  aimlessness 
and  uselessness  of  their  lives. 

It  was  never  according  to  the  purpose  of 
Almighty  God  that  woman  should  be  the 
enemy  of  man  and  an  instrument  of  his  deg- 
radation; neither  was  it  part  of  His  design 
that  she  should  be  foolish  and  weak  and  a 
constant  source  of  anxiety  to  those  about  her. 
A helpmeet  for  man  he  created  her  and  a 
comrade  for  the  journey  of  life,  in  every  re- 
lationship, in  every  capacity,  and  her  inter- 
ests are  his  and  his  are  hers,  and  no  power  on 
earth  can  separate  the  interdependence  of  one 
upon  the  other.  If  in  any  society  or  body  of 
people  one  generation  of  women  is  permitted 
to  grow  up  unfitted  to  share  its  responsibili- 
ties and  labors,  the  whole  society  suffers. 

Now  Catholic  women  have  behind  them  a 
great  record  of  heroism,  of  endurance,  and 
of  suffering  bravely  borne  for  the  Faith ; they 


Without  the  Way 


3 


have  been  the  true  comrades  of  the  men  of 
their  time.  Those  who  were  cradled  under 
the  penal  laws  and  served  Almighty  God 
valiantly,  have  made  it  possible  for  you,  alone 
among  the  girls  of  England,  to  be  brought  up 
in  the  only  Faith  that  explains  life  truly  and 
gives  strength  to  live  it  rightly.  These  are 
days  of  peace,  and  days  of  peace  have  their 
own  dangers.  In  times  of  persecution  lights 
and  shadows  stand  out  strongly  and  duties 
are  obvious,  but  in  times  of  peace  it  is  easy  to 
let  the  duty  slip  by  unrecognized  and  to  fail 
to  see  things  clearly  in  the  new  and  softer 
light. 

You,  for  whom  the  silver  cord  which  binds 
you  to  school  life  will  soon  be  loosed,  have  to 
look  to  it  that  you  are  in  no  way  unworthy  of 
the  women  of  the  past.  You  have  to  find  the 
key-note  of  your  own  generation,  you  have  to 
learn  how  to  be  helpmeets  to  man  under  new* 
conditions,  and  it  is  to  help  you  to  this  end 
that  what  follows  is  written. 

If  you  saw  a girl,  whom  you  knew  to  have 
been  started  upon  a journey  to  a particular 
place,  jump  into  the  first  train  she  saw  with- 
out inquiring  where  it  went  to,  merely  be- 
cause she  thought  it  fun  to  be  moving  along 
at  a great  rate,  and  that  it  did  not  much  mat- 
ter in  what  direction,  you  would  think  her  a 
very  silly  creature.  This  is  exactly  what 
some  girls  do  when  they  leave  school  and 
start  upon  the  journey  of  life. 


4 


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Is  it  prudent  to  tumble  out  of  school  life 
upon  so  momentous  a journey  without  learn- 
ing as  much  as  you  can  about  the  different 
roads  that  run  across  the  world  that  stretches 
before  you  ? And  what  a contradictory 
world  it  is ! Ask  one  who  has  traveled  half 
way  along  the  road  and  he  will  tell  you  it  is 
full  of  beauty  and  mystery  and  unsolved 
problems.  Another  will  tell  you  it  is  filled 
with  stern  duties  and  relentless  laws;  an- 
other, that  it  is  full  of  the  glamor  of  strange 
attractions  and  resonant  with  the  clamor  of 
human  passions  and  the  ceaseless  sound,  now 
discordant,  now  harmonious,  of  the  interac- 
tion of  one  personality  upon  another.  One 
will  tell  you  that  it  is  as  a loom  in  whose 
warp  and  woof  good  and  evil  are  inextricable 
till  the  Judgment  Day;  another,  that  in  the 
same  circumstances  one  man  grows  great  and 
his  brother  abject;  and,  greatest  paradox  of 
all,  while  one  tells  you  that  it  is  a world  full 
of  incident  and  ceaseless  happenings,  another 
tells  you  that  it  is  a world  of  endless  monot- 
ony, empty  of  interest,  full  of  shallow  busi- 
ness, in  which  loving  and  hating  are  done 
in  an  equally  tepid  manner. 

No  one  will  be  found  to  tell  you  that  it  is  a 
big  playground. 

All  who  are  Catholics  will  have  but  one 
story  to  tell  as  to  how  they  found  the  right 
road  and  kept  their  hearts  warm  as  they  went 
along.  They  will  tell  you  of  a figure  on 


Without  the  Way 


5 


whom  their  eyes  were  always  fixed,  seen 
through  the  glamor  and  above  the  strife,  and, 
very  clearly  against  the  wide  sky  that  over- 
arches life’s  monotony,  a figure  stretched 
upon  the  Cross. 

Clearly  the  start  into  such  a world  as  this 
will  take  some  thinking  over.  It  would  be 
wise,  too,  to  see  what  kind  of  an  outfit  you 
have  got  together  for  this  journey;  if  you 
have  had  your  wits  about  you  during  the  past 
few  years,  it  should  not  be  inconsiderable. 

The  years  that  lie  behind  you  have  prob- 
ably been  happy  ones.  The  Convent  School 
is  a small  world  in  itself,  peopled  by  those  of 
one  Faith  only,  full  of  order  and  beauty  of 
work  and  of  play,  and  in  it  you  have  been  as 
sheltered  and  as  carefully  tended  as  if  you 
had  been  a flower  growing  in  a high-walled 
garden.  You  were  sheltered  like  a flower 
that  you  might  develop  strong,  healthy  roots, 
which  no  hand  should  disturb  too  soon,  and 
which  should  be  vigorous  enough  to  bear 
transplanting  into  any  kind  of  soil. 

In  plain  language,  the  main  business  dur- 
ing the  time  of  education  has  been  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  your  Faith  deep  down,  and  this 
should  have  included  in  the  doing  the  devel- 
oping of  all  the  powers  of  mind,  intellect  and 
heart.  This  laying  of  a strong  foundation 
should  have  set  its  stamp  upon  your  character 
and  given  it  stability  and  an  underlying 
strength  of  purpose.  You  who  have  grown 


6 


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up  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  mantle  of 
Our  Lady,  in  whose  character  there  is  no 
trace  of  feebleness  or  foolishness,  should  be 
strong  and  ready  to  raise  a standard  which 
other  women,  less  well  taught  than  you, 
could  see  and  follow.  But,  alas ! it  is  often 
and  often  remarked  that  Catholic  girls  are 
less  serious  than  their  neighbors,  and  that 
the  appearance  of  womanhood  too  often 
conceals  the  mind  and  sense  of  responsibility 
of  a child. 

How  comes  it  that  you,  who  have  learned 
such  profound  truths,  who  have  been  in  daily 
contact  with  lives  of  discipline  and  self- 
sacrifice,  should  set  about  the  business  of  life 
in  a more  frivolous  spirit  than  girls  who 
have  not  had  your  advantages? 

You  have  got  it  into  your  heads,  perhaps, 
that  the  world  beyond  the  Convent  walls  is  a 
place  of  pleasure.  A comical  notion  this,  to 
those  who  happen  to  know  something  of  life. 
Some  of  you  perhaps  reason  like  this : “The 
deeper-minded  girls  will  have  vocations  and 
become  nuns,  but  my  vocation  is  the  world. 
The  world  is  a place  of  pleasure  and  fun.  Al- 
mighty God  won’t  expect  me  to  aim  at  a 
higher  standard  than  will  carry  me  safely 
along  this  rather  easy  road.” 

The  real  world  has  been  hidden  from  you ; 
kindly  hands  have  drawn  a veil  across  it, 
which  has  been  raised  only  here  and  there  to 
show  you  pleasant  places.  Why?  Not  be- 


Without  the  Way 


7 


cause  it  was  so  attractive  that  had  you  seen 
all,  school  life  would  have  seemed  a prison 
house  by  contrast,  but  because  it  happened  to 
contain  such  ugly  things,  such  bitter  strug- 
gles, such  real  temptations,  such  deep  suffer- 
ings, that  it  was  not  good  you  should  know  of 
these  things  until  you  were  possessed  of  a 
certain  strength  and  until  you  had  learned 
something  of  the  joy  of  life. 

Let  us  examine  a little  closely  life  as  it  is 
lived  around  us  to-day,  and  try  to  get  such 
true  pictures  as  will  be  helpful  to  you  just 
now.  Not  the  whole  picture — the  time  has 
not  come  for  that  yet — but  each  part  must  be 
faithful  as  far  as  it  goes.  Is  the  prospect  a 
trifle  alarming  ? A high  degree  of  happiness 
and  much  merriment  are  to  be  met  with  in 
the  world  if  you  know  the  conditions  for 
gaining  them,  but  to  grasp  at  any  counterfeit 
of  the  real  things  will  surely  bring  you  ac- 
quaintance with  sorrow.  When  it  is  a ques- 
tion of  gaining  knowledge  that  shall  affect 
practical  conduct,  it  is  well  to  test  the  wisdom 
of  books  by  observations  of  actual  life. 

Books  of  counsel  for  behavior  in  the 
world  are  apt  to  be  misleading  a few  years 
after  they  are  written,  and  interesting  as  his- 
tory of  past  manners  rather  than  fingerposts 
to  direct  us  on  thq  paths  that  lie  before  us. 
Books  of  devotion  that  you  may  have  read, 
and  which  have  enshrined  eternal  truths,  may 
nevertheless  have  puzzled  and  discouraged 


8 


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you  by  their  hints  for  the  conduct  of  life,  be- 
cause they  were  written  for  another  age  and 
another  civilization. 

All  you  who  feel  that  your  vocation  is  in 
the  world  have  probably  also  a feeling  at  the 
back  of  your  minds,  and  if  you  don’t  yet  rec- 
ognize its  presence  you  inevitably  will  some 
day,  that  the  best  state  for  you  is  the  married 
state;  that  in  no  other  state  will  you  find  a 
field  for  the  mysterious  powers  within  you,  of 
which  you  are  beginning  to  be  dimly  con- 
scious, that  the  sacrament  of  marriage  will 
furnish  the  key  that  will  unlock  the  depths  of 
your  nature.  Some  of  you  will  not  have  got 
as  far  in  thought  as  this,  but  you  will  at  any 
rate  think  it  the  natural  thing  that  some  kind 
of  suitor  for  your  hand  should  appear  upon 
the  horizon  some  day;  and  so  completely 
would  this  even  seem  to  answer  to  your 
needs,  and  to  be  proper  to  the  spring  time  of 
life,  that  your  sense  of  justice  will  be  hurt  if 
such  a person  fails  to  appear ; more  particu- 
larly since  everyone  will  tell  you  that  the  mar- 
ried state  is  the  highest,  the  happiest,  and  the 
safest  for  a woman,  always  excepting  the 
religious. 

Let  us  glance  at  actual  life.  It  is  a matter 
of  fact  that  very  many  women  who  are  at- 
tractive, good,  capable,  sometimes  beautiful, 
never  receive  an  offer  of  marriage  at  all; 
what  a different  state  of  things  this  is  to 
what  novels,  story  books,  or  the  conversation 


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of  our  friends  would  lead  us  to  suppose ! what 
a shock  to  our  sense  of  romance  and  of  the 
fitness  of  things!  It  is  only  of  late  years 
that  the  truth  has  been  frankly  acknowl- 
edged; formerly  a conventional  politeness 
thought  it  decent  to  cover  it  by  the  gallant 
fiction  that  every  single  woman  remained  so 
by  choice.  A fiction  kindly  conceived,  but  its 
existence  implies  a disgrace  to  conceal,  and 
this  must  have  made  it  difficult  for  an  un- 
married woman  to  feel  any  dignity  in  her  lot. 

There  is  no  one  to  blame  for  this  state  of 
affairs.  Girls  are  capable  enough  of  affec- 
tion and  devotion,  and  if  they  are  far  from 
perfect,  they  are  at  any  rate  in  no  way  below 
the  men  of  their  class.  The  sober  truth  we 
have  to  face  is  that,  even  if  some  fairy  wand 
could  bring  all  the  right  people  together  and 
endow  them  with  adequate  incomes,  there 
would  still  be  many  forlorn  ladies  called  to 
no  trysting  place,  for  there  would  not  be 
enough  husbands  for  all. 

Many  causes  contribute  to  bring  about  this 
unevenness  of  numbers,  of  which  wars,  dan- 
gerous professions,  and  the  size  of  the  em- 
pire, whose  distant  outposts  have  to  be 
manned,  are  among  the  most  obvious.  And 
in  truth  marrying  is  no  such  simple  matter, 
and  the  more  complex  the  state  of  society  the 
less  simple  it  becomes.  Love  should  come 
first,  and  many  years  may  pass  before  either 
the  man  or  the  woman  meets  the  person  who 


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can  arouse  this  feeling.  Some  go  through 
life  without  ever  meeting  such  a one,  or  if 
they  do  there  may  be  an  insuperable  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  marriage.  Then  there  is  a 
phenomenon,  which  every  one  will  have  some 
opportunity  of  observing,  and  which  will  re- 
main forever  something  of  an  enigma.  One 
girl  who  apparently  is  in  no  way  above  the 
average  in  mind  or  heart,  possibly  not  in  good 
looks,  will  attract  the  admiration  of  many 
men  and  have  a little  court  around  her ; some 
man  who  fails  to  win  her  may  remain  single 
for  her  sake.  Another  girl  who  seems  to 
have  as  many  gifts  remains  unnoticed.  The 
want  of  balance  in  the  numbers  of  men  and 
women  who  reach  maturity  is  far  from  being 
the  only  cause  that  determines  single  lives. 

All  through  the  ages  there  have  been  many 
women  whose  lot  appears  to  have  been  to 
look  on  at  the  heart  of  life.  We  may  not 
have  heard  very  much  of  them ; their  fate  has 
not  furnished  material  for  the  writers  of  ro- 
mance, and  at  a first  glance  they  would  not 
appear  to  have  left  their  mark  upon  history. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  it  all?  Has  Al- 
mighty God  forgotten  to  provide  for  them? 
Does  He  create  immortal  souls,  endow  them 
with  great  powers,  and  then  give  them  no  op- 
portunities for  using  them  ? It  would  almost 
seem  as  if  some  pious  writers  have  thought 
so,  so  persistently  do  they  address  women  as 
wife,  as  mother,  as  religious,  and  ignore 


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those  other  no  less  real  and  often  far  harder 
vocations. 

At  all  times  lives  of  hidden  sacrifice  and 
work  have  been  lived  in  the  world,  which, 
though  they  have  seemed  to  pass  unrecog- 
nized, were  of  vital  service  to  the  family  or 
the  nation,  and  whose  perfume,  though  a lit- 
tle too  delicate  and  thin  for  the  common  lik- 
ing, went  up  as  acceptable  incense  to  Al- 
mighty God.  But  there  were  failures,  too; 
those  who,  fearing  that  in  missing  the  best 
they  had  missed  all,  lost  heart  and  their  hold 
on  life,  and  pined  away  from  lack  of  interest 
and  a sufficient  motive  for  living,  leaving 
undone  the  work  they  failed  to  recognize. 

There  would  seem  to  be  a shade  of  sadness 
over  the  best  of  such  single  lives,  until  we 
reflect  that  no  one  makes  the  journey  alone. 
Almighty  God  has  each  one  by  the  hand,  and 
to  some  He  whispers  secrets  which  only  those 
can  know  who  are  not  led  along  the  road  of 
common  happiness.  If  there  are  dark  things 
in  the  world  there  are  many  fair  things,  too. 
God  is  revealed  in  a thousand  ways,  in  all  the 
beauty,  the  intelligence,  the  order,  the  har- 
mony, and  the  kindness  we  meet  with.  He 
has  need  of  many  lives,  through  whose  med- 
ium He  can  manifest  some  of  His  beauty  in 
ugly  places,  of  His  order  in  chaos,  of  His 
light  in  darkness.  He  has  need  of  those  in 
the  world,  who,  just  in  the  dull  places  He  has 
appointed  them,  will  permit  Him  to  unseal 


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their  eyes  and  open  their  ears  to  feel  His 
presence  in  common  things. 

And  for  this  manifold  revelation  He  has 
need  of  every  soul  He  has  created.  We  can- 
not suppose  Almighty  God  to  be  unaware 
that  He  creates  many  women  whom  He 
neither  destines  for  married  life  nor  for  any 
great  achievement.  He  who  is  infinite  jus- 
tice does  not  reward  one  vocation  in  a less 
degree  than  another,  and  whatever  your  por- 
tion, it  has  been  allotted  to  you  for  your  ulti- 
mate good.  He  will  work  His  will  upon 
each  one,  to  reach  the  heart  and  shape  the 
character.  One  He  will  soften  with  human 
love,  another  He  will  strengthen  by  loneli- 
ness, another  He  will  hew  into  shape  by  hard 
blows  of  pain  or  dishonor  or  despair. 

The  only  possible  failure  is  in  rebellion  and 
resistance.  You  cannot  foresee  your  share 
of  life,  and  you  certainly  cannot  choose  it,  ex- 
cept in  the  limited  sense  in  which  you  can 
choose  to  exert  yourself  and  make  the  utmost 
of  your  opportunities,  or  to  sit  idle.  If  mar- 
riage should  be  your  lot,  will  you  be  less  fit 
for  your  vocation  because  you  have  been 
capable,  helpful,  awake  to  the  needs  of  others 
and  the  many-sidedness  of  life  in  the  years 
that  went  before?  And  if  marriage  should 
not  come,  and  you  have  drifted  on  aimlessly, 
frivolously,  and  filled  with  thoughts  of  self- 
indulgence  and  amusements,  you  will  awaken 
to  a sense  of  the  emptiness  and  uselessness  of 


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your  life  at  an  age  when  it  is  not  easy  to  fill 
it ; you  will  try  to  take  up  some  work  which 
your  previous  life  has  not  fitted  you  to  do 
well,  and  you  will  swell  the  lists  of  the  fussy, 
the  incompetent,  the  would-be  helpers  of  the 
world.  Or  a worse  fate  still  may  await  you. 
You  may  find  yourself  among  those  ship- 
wrecked, lonely  souls — and  everyone  who 
has  reached  middle  age  knows  some  such — 
who  were  as  well  born  as  you,  as  well  started 
in  life,  and  as  gay  at  the  outset,  and  who 
lived  to  fill  the  void  in  their  lives  with  sensual 
pleasure,  and  ended  in  drink  and  dishonor. 

It  is  an  eternal  law  that  those  who  will  not 
work  shall  not  live,  shall  at  any  rate  gradu- 
ally deteriorate  until  they  cease  to  live  in  any 
high  sense  of  the  term.  There  are  multitudi- 
nous ways  of  working;  an  attempt  to'  im- 
prove and  widen  the  mind  or  to  acquire  the 
art  of  social  intercourse  is  real  work  if  it  in- 
volves effort  of  one  kind  or  another.  But  ef- 
fort there  must  be,  and  some  sort  of  struggle 
of  your  higher  faculties  towards  develop- 
ment, if  there  is  to  be  a wholesome  life. 

It  is  highly  important  that  the  work  should 
be  rightly  directed  and  itself  in  harmony  with 
your  nature  as  a woman.  And  now  I come 
to  the  heart  of  the  whole  matter.  The  life’s 
history  of  every  woman,  from  the  stupidest 
to  the  most  brilliantly  intellectual,  from  the 
most  shrewish  nature  to  the  sweetest,  turns 
upon  the  use  of  the  affections. 


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The  explanation  to  the  curiously  diverse 
characters  we  meet  can  be  found  in  affections 
undisciplined  and  run  riot,  affections  thwart- 
ed and  starved,  affections  turned  back  upon 
self,  or  affections  wholly  given  back  to  God 
the  Giver.  It  is  difficult  at  first  sight  to  be- 
lieve that  all  the  hard,  peevish,  worldly  and 
selfish  women  we  meet  have  become  so  by 
misuse  of  the  power  they  seem  most  to  lack ; 
but  it  is  true.  Now,  whatever  profession,  or 
work,  or  sphere  of  usefulness  is  entered  upon, 
the  affections  must  not  only  be  disciplined, 
they  must  be  provided  for.  Every  Catholic 
girl  knows  that  she  owes  the  fundamental  af- 
fections of  her  heart  to  God,  but  in  the  world 
she  owes,  too,  affection  to  a great  many  who 
need  it,  and  the  right  giving  of  this  is  the  ex- 
pression of  her  love  for  God.  It  has  been 
somewhat  the  modern  fashion,  while  cham- 
pioning what  has  been  called  the  intellectual 
emancipation  of  woman,  to  forget  her  more 
essential  needs. 

If  any  of  you  are  to  go  out  into  the  world 
and  either  earn  your  own  living  or  enter  one 
of  the  many  careers  now  open  to  women,  you 
will  see  a good  deal  of  the  results  of  this 
mistake. 

A clever  girl  often  starts  life  in  an  inde- 
pendent spirit,  and  feeling  the  world  to  be  so 
full  of  abstract  interests  and  serious  pleas- 
ures, she  imagines  that  she  can  ignore  the 
life  of  the  affections,  and  as  she  supposes, 


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i5 


“live  like  a man.”  The  crucial  day  when  her 
emotional  life  will  assert  itself  may  be  de- 
ferred, but  it  will  come  as  inevitably  as  death, 
and  if  it  has  been  neglected  there  will  be  a 
disaster  of  one  kind  or  another. 

We  Catholics  at  any  rate  are  not  likely  to 
fall  into  this  mistake  and  to  undervalue  the 
real  womanly  qualities. 

Our  danger  is  rather  in  restricting  the 
fields  of  their  exercise,  and  supposing  that 
they  are  limited  to  a very  few  and  obvious 
ones.  We  are  to  discuss  in  the  following 
papers  where  these  fields  lie,  and  how  in  each 
one  a girl  may  find  an  outlet  for  her  womanly 
nature,  and  put  into  the  work  she  lays  her 
hand  to  that  atmosphere  of  well-ordered  af- 
fection which  is  necessary  to  the  world  as  a 
complement  to  the  more  masculine  virtues. 
The  first  business  then  for  you  in  starting  on 
your  journey  is  to  consider  on  what  road  you 
can  develop  your  nature  as  Almighty  God  in- 
tended, how  most  usefully  to  others,  most 
happily  for  yourself. 

But  how  about  this  outfit  you  are  to  take 
with  you  ? 

It  should  be  the  same  for  all — Self-control. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  most  important  prob- 
lem a woman  has  to  face  is  the  government 
of  her  emotional  life,  then  for  all,  no  matter 
of  what  rank  or  state  in  life,  the  power  of 
self-control  is  absolutely  necessary.  The  end 
of  school  life  ought  to  see  you  all  with  at  any 


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rate  a modest  outfit,  if  only  you  will  recog- 
nize its  value  and  not  throw  it  away  in  the 
first  year  of  liberty.  Affections,  and  the 
emotional  life,  may  be  the  largest  gift  you 
have  received,  but  the  gift  is  not  to  rule  you ; 
you  must  hold  the  reins  and  be  in  command 
always. 

Emotions  that  have  got  out  of  hand  are  a 
terribly  destructive  force.  Uncontrolled  and 
undirected  force  may  cause  disturbance  and 
disaster — it  can  never  influence.  When  in  a 
tragic  scene,  a great  actress  appears  to  be 
swept  away  by  the  tide  of  her  grief,  and  then 
to  compel  the  tears  of  her  audience,  she  has  in 
reality  perfect  control  over  the  grief  she  is 
interpreting,  and  knows  quite  well  that  if  she 
lost  it  for  a moment,  and  were  at  the  mercy 
of  her  feelings,  she  would  lose  the  sym- 
pathy of  her  audience  at  the  same  moment, 
who  would  remain  unmoved  and  dry-eyed. 
But  you  Catholic  girls,  who,  in  your  convent 
schools,  have  grown  up  under  the  very 
shadow  of  our  Lady,  should  need  no  illustra- 
tions to  persuade  you  that  there  is  nothing 
feeble  in  the  highest  type  of  womanhood. 
Nothing  morally  weak,  and  no  moments 
when  the  spirit  abdicates  its  supremacy,  and 
leaves  the  body  to  dictate  the  thought  or  the 
deed. 

Have  you  ever  felt  that  the  small  rules 
which  you  have  been  obliged  to  observe,  were 
just  a teasing  part  of  the  machinery  of  school 


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1 7 


life,  from  which  you  would  soon  be  freed? 
If  so,  you  have  altogether  failed  to  under- 
stand them  rightly. 

They  bear  the  same  relation  to  your  future 
life  as  learning  the  goose  step  does  to  that  of 
a soldier.  The  recruit  may  think  the  exer- 
cises very  meaningless,  and  fancy  he  would 
make  a fine  soldier  without  all  this  fuss; 
but  his  superiors  know  perfectly  well  that, 
unless  he  learns  to  respond  instantly  to  the 
word  of  command,  the  enemy  is  likely  to  see 
his  back  when  the  critical  hour  arrives. 

You  have  to  take  these  early  lessons  in  dis- 
cipline on  trust,  very  much  as  a soldier  takes 
his  drill,  because  you  know  no  more  of  the 
dangers  of  life  than  a recruit  does  of  real 
battle. 

Those  who  do  know,  and  have  faced  temp- 
tations, and  have  seen  others  falling  on  all 
sides  for  want  of  training,  have  framed  them 
for  your  benefit.  They  are  the  outcome  of 
the  experience  of  generations,  nor  can  you 
gain  the  kind  of  wisdom  that  is  needed  to  re- 
shape these  rules,  except  by  living,  so  that  it 
is  altogether  too  soon  for  you  to  set  up  as 
critics  and  reformers. 

Your  first  business  is  to  struggle  for  the 
mastery  over  yourself,  and  to  learn  to  obey 
promptly,  and  to  believe  that  in  so  doing  you 
are  preparing  yourself  to  face  ordeals  that 
are  mercifully  hidden  from  the  spring  time  of 
your  life. 


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Let  us  suppose  that  you  have  gained  a cer- 
tain mastery  in  such  things  as  form  the  rou- 
tine of  school  life.  This  is  something  not  to 
be  despised,  but  it  is  only  a small  part  of  the 
kind  of  control  which  as  a girl  you  should  be 
aiming  at. 

You  have  a strong  emotional  life  within 
you,  and  if  it  is  not  to  be  your  servant,  it  will 
be  a most  convenient  ally  of  the  devil,  who, 
by  its  aid,  will  fool  you  and  trick  you  at  every 
turn. 

Can  you  control  either  laughter  or  tears 
when  you  wish  to  ? 

You  may  ask,  why,  if  tears  and  laughter 
are  the  natural  language  of  grief  and  joy, 
common  to  both  men  and  women,  should  we 
be  continually  trying  to  control  them,  or  be 
ashamed  to  own  that  we  laugh  or  cry  our 
eyes  out  whenever  it  suits  us? 

Just  because  they  are  a language  that 
should  express  the  real  self,  and  are  powers 
intimately  connected  with  the  life  of  the 
body,  they  must  come  under  the  rule  of  the 
spirit. 

No  person  is  in  the  least  expressing  her 
real  feelings  or  her  truest  self  when  she 
bursts  into  tears  every  time  she  is  moved  to 
pity  or  anger,  or  her  vanity  or  self-love  is 
hurt.  No  one  is  a bit  nearer  understanding 
the  real  extent  or  cause  of  her  grief,  but  all 
can  see  that  her  nerves  are  out  of  order,  and 
that  she  has  lost  control  over  them.  The 


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19 


point  at  which  the  pressure  of  emotion  is  so 
great,  that  tears  are  formed  and  must  be 
shed,  is  sooner  reached  in  a woman  than  in 
a man.  Being  physically  weaker  she  often 
needs  help  from  a man,  and  tears  of  this 
kind,  tears  that  come  because  the  limits  of  a 
real  self-control  are  passed,  are  a natural  ap- 
peal for  such  help,  or  may  be  a natural  relief 
for  grief,  for  which  no  human  help  is  pos- 
sible. 

But  tears  cease  to  be  a language  and  be- 
come a tyranny  and  a nuisance  to  all  around, 
when  they  come  at  the  call  of  every  trivial 
emotion  or  uneasiness.  And  how  bitterly  we 
may  come  to  regret  a slavery  that  may  seem 
a small  matter  in  the  beginning. 

Some  day,  when  you  are  moved  deeply, 
you  would  give  all  you  have  to  help  others  in 
trouble  or  pain,  to  be  of  use  to  them,  but  you 
cannot  steady  your  own  voice  or  master  your 
agitation,  the  tears  come,  you  increase  the 
distress  of  the  sufferer  and  are  a hindrance 
where  you  would  be  a help. 

Self-control  is  not  gained  in  a moment. 
Many  a one,  who  at  first  could  hardly  steady 
her  knees  to  carry  her  down  the  ward  of  a 
hospital,  has  become  a reliable  nurse  in  the 
operating-room.  All  the  more  valuable  by 
reason  of  the  nerve  sensitiveness  that  made 
control  hard  to  gain. 

It  is  exactly  because  a woman  is  naturally 
quick  of  perception  and  tender  of  heart,  that 


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it  is  her  paramount  duty  to  govern  her 
nerves,  for  that  is  what  it  comes  to,  if  she  is 
to  be  of  any  use  in  the  world.  The  share  of 
the  world’s  work  that  will  be  eternally  hers, 
however  customs  change  and  fashions  come 
and  go,  will  be  the  care  of  the  young,  the 
weak,  the  sick,  the  aged  and  the  afflicted,  all 
tasks  that  need  long  patience  and  genuine 
love,  but  also  the  power  of  enduring  long 
nervous  strain.  Woman,  we  are  constantly 
told,  is  weaker  than  man,  but  if  in  her  own 
province  she  is  not  the  stronger,  she  has 
failed  miserably  in  her  womanhood.  What 
is  required  of  us  in  the  way  of  self-mastery 
is,  that  we  shall  be  ready  when  duty  calls, 
with  eye  and  hand  well  under  control,  our- 
selves forgotten,  our  minds  filled  with  the 
needs  of  another. 

But  this  power  of  repression,  if  gained,  is 
only  one  side  of  self-control ; there  is  another, 
too  often  overlooked,  but  so  entirely  neces- 
sary to  our  own  and  other  people’s  happiness, 
that  it  needs  careful  consideration.  The  first 
side  of  self-mastery  is  a repressing  of  wrong 
inclinations,  or  a checking  of  an  ill-timed  or 
exaggerated  expression  of  right  ones ; but  we 
havebesides  to  learn  alanguageof  expression. 

We  have  a personality,  the  gift  of  God, 
and  we  must  honestly  and  reverently  see  that 
this  individuality  of  ours  is  so  liberated  that 
others  can  recognize  and  appreciate  it  as  God 
intended. 


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21 


Can  we  show  sympathy,  or  when  we  ear- 
nestly desire  to  say  a kind  thing,  are  we  pos- 
sessed by  a dumb  devil  of  shyness? 

Here  is  surely  a want  of  self-mastery. 
The  kind  thought  is  there,  also  the  wish  to 
utter  it  in  some  intelligible  way,  but  we  do 
not  possess  the  key  to  set  the  works  moving 
somehow,  or  it  has  grown  rusty,  or  we  have 
never  tried  to  turn  it. 

This  burying  of  faculties  that  should  be  in 
daily  use  is  the  cause  of  much  misery  in  after 
life,  of  misunderstanding,  of  isolations,  or 
lost  opportunities  untold.  Seeing  how  strong 
is  the  life  of  the  affections  in  a woman,  and 
how  uncertain  her  chance  of  meeting  with  an 
occasion,  or  an  individual,  that  shall  require 
all  she  has  to  give,  or  who  can  give  all  that 
she  feels  to  need,  and  seeing  what  a source  of 
danger  are  unused  and  pent-up  powers,  is  it 
not  common  prudence  to  dig  many  channels 
along  which  the  affections  can  continually 
flow,  irrigating  the  dry  places  of  the  world  as 
they  go?  This  second  kind  of  self-control  is 
in  reality  the  digging  of  such  channels. 
When  a little  child  runs  and  throws  its  arms 
round  the  neck  of  some  one  it  loves,  and  hugs 
her  so  boisterously  as  almost  to  upset  her,  we 
feel  that  this  outburst  is  rather  attractive, 
that  it  shows  there  is  good  stuff  behind,  but 
that  the  child  will  have  to  learn  another  way 
of  showing  love  before  it  grows  up.  And  yet 
it  would  be  rather  sad,  if,  when  the  child  had 


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become  a man,  he  had  become  so  controlled, 
in  the  one-sided  sense  of  the  term,  as  to  have 
no  power  of  showing  what  was  in  his  heart. 
Or — and  this  is  so  very  English — could  only 
at  some  great  crisis  in  life  show  in  some  crude 
volcanic  way  what  subterranean  fires  have 
been  smouldering. 

A woman,  more  frequently  than  a man, 
experiences  the  need  to  express  ordinary 
sympathy  and  kindness,  and  to  communicate 
some  felt  happiness  or  merriment — needs, 
in  a word,  to  be  true  to  her  nature. 

Women  who  have  not  acquired  a language 
of  expression,  accurate  in  that  it  has  tri- 
umphed over  shyness  and  stopped  short  of 
exaggeration,  do  themselves  scant  justice. 

It  is  as  much  a duty  to  force  out  a kind 
word  and  to  show  the  right  and  honest  affec- 
tion, as  it  is  to  check  the  unkind  word  and 
repress  the  wrong  feeling. 

Reason  must  decide  if  the  feeling  be  right 
or  wrong,  and  if  right,  out  it  must  come  and 
show  itself.  Its  first  appearance  may  be 
clumsy  enough,  but  it  will  acquire  fresh  grace 
and  ease  of  deportment  every  time  it  makes 
its  bow.  This  will  be  easy,  or  difficult,  ac- 
cording to  the  natural  character,  surround- 
ings, and  opportunities  of  the  individual. 
The  less  gifted  and  less  fortunate  women 
will  be  those  to  suffer  most  in  after  life  from 
a neglect  of  this  art.  The  more  they  are 
dumb,  the  more  likely  are  they  to  be  lonely. 


Without  the  Way 


23 


One  often  sees  some  poor,  shy  creature  on 
the  point  of  trying  to  say  something  that  she 
really  feels,  a small  speech  of  gratitude,  for 
instance;  she  grows  so  nervous  and  uncom- 
fortable that  the  trouble  spreads  and  the  feel- 
ing of  uneasiness  becomes  general.  There  is 
a growing  dread  of  some  crude  manifestation 
of  emotion,  and  a moment  that  should  have 
been  instinct  with  graceful  kindliness  is  hur- 
ried over,  and  everyone  is  glad  to  be  through 
with  it. 

The  whole  thing  may  be  summed  up  as  the 
duty  to  take  care  that  the  version  of  our- 
selves which  we  present  for  the  inspection  of 
others  shall  be  expressive  of  the  best  that  is 
in  us. 

This  dual  mastery,  this  power  of  holding 
back  unworthy  or  unreal  emotions,  and  of 
bringing  the  nobler  ones  into  action  and 
training,  enables  us  to  do  this. 

It  is  impossible  to  begin  too  young;  the 
right  exercising  of  them  is  a long  business, 
long  in  proportion  to  the  depth  and  strength 
of  the  material  to  work  upon. 

Many  a polished  and  equable  manner  in 
middle  age  is  a travesty  of  life  within,  which 
it  conceals,  and  is  in  itself  the  result  of  con- 
tinual effort  to  hide  feelings  and  thoughts 
which  should  have  been  uttered.  If  we  all 
possessed  these  powers,  there  would  be  in- 
calculably more  real  friendships  in  the  world. 
The  world  is  not  a big  playground  then,  and 


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if  it  were,  we  that  should  play  in  it  have 
within  us  the  germ  of  a disease  contracted 
at  the  fall,  so  that  even  if  outer  circum- 
stances did  not  compel  us  to  self-discipline, 
we  should  be  compelled  from  within. 

On  the  threshold  of  life  we  one  and  all 
need,  irrespective  of  our  talents,  our  charms, 
our  fortunes  and  our  position,  this  double 
power  of  self-control. 

We  cannot  determine  our  own  state  of 
life ; our  lot  may  be  the  very  opposite  to  what 
we  should  have  imagined  would  suit  us  best. 

The  wisest  course  is  to  be  prepared  to  face 
the  least  easy. 

According  to  the  law  of  natural  life  women 
are  created  to  be  wives  and  mothers,  but 
there  is  a supernatural  life  which  not  only 
sanctifies  the  married  state,  but  also  calls  in- 
dividuals to  the  religious  state  and  to  other 
spheres  of  happiness  and  usefulness.  These 
latter  states  are  more  difficult,  in  so  far  as  it 
is  harder  to  live  in  a way  which  involves  a 
continual  sailing  against  the  stream  of  nature 
than  in  one  that  sails  with  it. 

I would  not  dare  forecast  a future  of 
virtue  and  happiness  for  any  girl  who  has 
not  begun  to  acquire  some  self-mastery  by 
the  time  she  is  entrusted  with  a certain 
amount  of  liberty,  for  such  a prophecy  would 
give  the  lie  to  all  that  I have  observed  in  life. 

The  key-note  of  this  generation  is  not  that 
of  the  last;  you  are  entering  upon  liberties 


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Without  the  Way 


25 


that  your  mothers  never  dreamed  of,  you 
have  new  opportunities,  you  have  also  new 
dangers  to  face,  you  certainly  have  new  work 
to  do,  and  you  have  to  fit  yourself  for  the 
work. 

In  the  mind  of  God  is  foreshadowed  for 
each  one  of  you  a beautiful  and  attractive 
character,  your  possible  self,  your  certain 
self,  if  you  conquer  the  hindrances  to  grace; 
but,  in  the  as  yet  unplanted  wilderness  of 
each  girl’s  soul  of  you,  there  should  be  a 
voice  crying:  “Prepare  ye  the  ways  of  the 
Lord;  make  straight  His  paths.” 


Liberty 

The  Law  of  the  Jungle 

Now  this  is  the  law  of  the  Jungle — as  old  and  as  true 
as  the  sky; 

And  the  wolf  that  shall  keep  it  may  prosper,  but  the 
wolf  that  shall  break  it  shall  die. 

As  the  creeper  that  girdles  the  tree-trunk  the  Law  run- 
neth forward  and  back — 

For  the  strength  of  the  pack  is  the  wolf,  and  the  strength 
of  the  wolf  is  the  pack. 

Kipling. 

You  are  going  to  gain  freedom?  Well,  that 
depends  mainly  on  yourself.  You  are  soon 
to  be  free  of  school  rules.  We  will  assume 
that  you  are  reasonable  (that  is  assuming  a 
great  deal!),  that  you  are  free,  in  that  your 
spirit  is  in  no  way  the  slave  of  your  body, 
and  that  you  know  the  value  of  freedom  well 
enough  to  be  anxious  not  to  break  a moral 
law  and  become  a slave ; but  there  is  another 
law,  curious,  intricate,  puzzling,  the  social 
law  of  the  great  world  you  are  entering,  very 
literally  “A  law  of  the  Jungle.” 

If  the  world  were  entirely  Christian,  there 
would  be  one  law,  but  as  things  are,  we  may 
compare  the  Christians  and  Christian  com- 
munities in  the  world  to  cultivated  oases  in  a 


Liberty 


2 7 


great  jungle  of  tangled  vegetation  and  un- 
tamed life,  in  which  one  creature  wars  and 
struggles  with  another.  Only  very  imper- 
fectly have  the  laws,  which  may  be  discerned 
as  in  some  way  regulating  this  tangle  and 
disorder,  yielded,  as  yet,  to  Christian  in- 
fluence. 

Your  position  with  regard  to  this  law  is 
different  from  that  of  girls  brought  up  more 
in  the  world  than  you  have  been. 

They  have  learned  it  gradually,  uncon- 
sciously, and  have  developed  a whole  set  of 
protective  instincts  and  perceptions  that  act 
as  a kind  of  alarm  signals,  warning  them  of 
the  danger  of  law  breaking;  you  have  to  set 
about  studying  it  as  a preparation  for  enjoy- 
ing liberty. 

The  Jungle  law  is  the  result  of  experience, 
and  embodies  a working  compromise  be- 
tween conflicting  beliefs  and  ideals ; it  is  not 
always  logical  or  just,  but  it  is  in  actual  oper- 
ation, and  to  break  it  is  to  forfeit  freedom. 

This  law  is  not  immutable,  for  it  is  in  con- 
stant process  of  change  and  evolution ; but  it 
is  inexorable. 

Mark  the  difference.  While  the  individual 
conscience  has  from  the  beginning  of  time 
been  in  exactly  the  same  relation  to  Almighty 
God  that  it  is  to-day,  and  right  and  wrong 
stand  opposed  to  each  other  as  they  have  ever 
done,  mankind  as  a whole  has  been  undergo- 
ing a civilizing  process,  and  the  civilizing  has 


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been  in  the  main  upon  Christian  lines.  Now 
had  you  happened  to  be  living  some  centuries 
ago,  and  suddenly  taken  it  into  your  head  to 
make  an  excursion  alone  and  unattended  into 
either  town  or  country,  you  would  certainly 
have  met  with  some  kind  of  violence  or  ter- 
rifying experience,  and  in  no  sense  of  the 
word  would  you  have  been  free,  for  you 
would  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  rough  peo- 
ple of  half-tamed  passions  and  instincts,  and 
— here  is  the  point — you  would  have  broken 
the  law  of  the  Jungle  as  they  understood  it, 
and  by  this  act  you  would  have  given  them, 
in  their  opinion,  a perfect  right  to  show  their 
teeth  and  claws. 

By  acting  in  the  same  way  to-day  you 
would  incur  none  of  these  risks,  for  you 
would  be  breaking  no  Jungle  laws  as  now 
recognized,  people  generally  having  come  to 
see  that  the  physically  weak  have  equal  rights 
with  the  strong ; but  the  tooth  and  the  claw 
are  there  all  the  same,  and  the  Jungle  law  is 
there;  it  has  only  retreated  more  into  the 
background,  and  when  it  comes  into  opera- 
tion it  is  as  relentless  as  ever.  It  should  be 
your  business  to  find  out  how  it  works  to-day. 
For  instance,  every  town  has  its  unwritten 
laws:  there  are  everywhere  streets  or  dis- 
tricts which  it  is  not  prudent  to  visit  alone  or 
at  certain  hours.  Sometimes  there  is  even  a 
danger  to  safety;  and,  at  all  times,  to  in- 
fringe one  of  these  unwritten  laws  is  to  lay 


Liberty 


29 


yourself  open  to  be  mistaken  for  someone 
who  has  forfeited  respect. 

You  might  be  walking  down  the  streets  of 
a town,  filled  with  orderly,  well-mannered 
people,  and  wondering  how  it  ever  came  to  be 
supposed  that  girls  could  not  take  care  of 
themselves  anywhere  and  everywhere,  and 
reflecting  if  there  are  wicked  people  they  keep 
well  out  of  sight;  and  then  you  might  turn 
down  another  street,  one  where  the  Jungle 
law  decrees  ladies  do  not  walk  except  at  the 
call  of  necessity  or  duty,  and  a whole  under- 
world seems  to  have  come  to  the  surface : you 
might  find  yourself  annoyed,  insulted,  fright- 
ened, and  treated  with  disrespect,  although 
you  were  behaving  exactly  as  you  had  done 
in  the  other  street. 

Here  are  the  tooth  and  claw  showing 
again,  as  ready  as  ever  in  the  old  days  to  do 
harm  to  any  who  have  strayed  into  their 
haunts.  In  neither  case  would  your  act  in 
ignoring  the  law  have  been  that  of  a re- 
former, but  the  outcome  of  an  ignorance  of 
the  state  of  society  in  which  you  lived,  or 
such  a piece  of  idiotic  foolhardiness  as  often 
accompanies  feeble  intelligence. 

You  may  wonder  how  the  law  ever  comes 
to  change,  if  to  act  in  defiance  of  it  has  such 
fatal  consequences. 

No  improvement  is  ever  effected  by  those 
who  have  merely  failed  to  recognize  it.  Un- 
derstand that  the  Jungle  law  is  not  in  itself 


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cruel,  but  protective,  and  may  be  likened  to  a 
wall  set  up  between  the  land  in  which  virtu- 
ous and  secure  lives  may  be  lived  and  the 
unclaimed  land  inhabited  by  those  who  prey 
upon  the  weak  in  acts  of  cruelty  and  violence. 

Now  it  happens  in  the  course  of  time  that 
tracts  of  land  on  the  wild  side  of  the  wall  fall 
under  cultivation,  are  reclaimed  in  fact  by 
those  who  have  tilled  the  ground  on  the 
boundary  line,  and  may  safely  be  visited; 
their  original  inhabitants  have  fallen  back  to 
wilder  places. 

The  wall  remains  standing  until  some  peo- 
ple taller  and  more  thoughtful  than  the  rest 
look  over  and  say,  “this  land  is  ready  for  us, 
there  is  no  longer  need  of  this  wall,  which 
must  be  pulled  down  now  and  moved  further 
back,  where  it  will  again  be  useful  as  a ram- 
part.” 

There  is  always  an  outcry  from  those  who 
cannot  see  over,  and  do  not  believe  the  new 
land  is  desirable,  and  are  naturally  timid  of 
the  risk,  but  no  sooner  is  the  wall  down  than 
all  but  a few  enter  into  the  new  possession 
gladly. 

Here  is  a practical  illustration.  Some 
years  ago  it  was  not  considered  correct  for 
girls  to  attend  even  dances  in  private  houses 
unless  each  had  her  chaperon.  The  custom 
survived  from  a time  when  behavior  was  less 
decorous,  and  girls  very  simple  and  easily 
led,  and  men  less  trustworthy. 


Liberty 


3i 


When  under  new  influences  girls  became 
more  dignified  and  self-respecting,  and  man- 
ners generally  more  refined,  chaperons  be- 
gan to  see  that  they  were  hardly  needed  in 
such  numbers,  until  now  at  small  dances  the 
hostess  herself  is  often  considered  all-suffi- 
cient. 

Observe,  this  change  has  not  come  about 
because  ideas  regarding  the  behavior  at  balls 
are  less  strict  than  they  were,  but  because 
girls  have  by  their  behavior  shown  them- 
selves deserving  that  more  confidence  should 
be  placed  in  them.  Should  any  girl  enter  a 
social  circle  where  these  ideas  prevail,  under 
the  impression  that  this  liberty  entitled  her 
to  behave  in  as  fast  and  ill-bred  a way  as  she 
pleased,  she  would  soon  learn  a lesson — she 
would  be  quietly  cold-shouldered  out,  until 
she  had  to  drop  into  a set  less  refined  and  less 
desirable. 

Those  on  the  right  side  of  the  jungle  wall 
feel  that  they  have  to  protect  themselves,  and 
if  someone  comes  among  them  bringing  in 
the  manners  of  those  on  the  wrong  side,  they 
instantly  recognize  the  school  in  which  the 
manners  have  been  acquired,  and  shut  the 
door  upon  her  as  soon  as  may  be. 

You  cannot  understand  the  principle  un- 
derlying these  laws  too  thoroughly,  for  there 
is  a distinct  danger  that  when  you  leave 
school  and  hear  much  talk  of  liberty  and  the 
new  ideas,  as  you  certainly  will,  you  may 


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jump  to  the  conclusion  that  you  can  safely  do 
anything1,  provided  that  you  yourself  can  see 
no  moral  harm  in  it. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  you  must  promptly 
obey  every  warning  of  danger  that  your  con- 
science gives  you — but  the  converse  is  not 
true ; it  is  not  safe  to  embark  on  any  course  of 
conduct  in  the  world  against  which  your  con- 
science does  not  warn  you,  for  conscience 
cannot  make  you  aware  of  dangers  of  which 
your  intelligence  and  reason  are  ignorant. 
You  may  feel  impatient  and  a little  indignant 
that  so  many  people,  even  strangers,  should 
busy  themselves  about  your  behavior,  and 
the  phrase,  “I  can  quite  well  take  care  of  my- 
self,” may  rise  to  your  lips,  and  you  may 
think,  “why  do  people  imagine  that  because  I 
am  a girl  I am  not  to  be  trusted?”  This  so- 
licitude does  not  spring  from  a poor  opinion 
of  the  character  of  girls,  and  it  is  not  merely 
a matter  of  trusting. 

In  the  eyes  of  Almighty  God  a boy  and  a 
girl  are  of  equal  value.  If  a boy  sins,  his 
guilt  is  equal  to  that  of  a girl ; the  punish- 
ment is  the  same,  each  has  the  same  certainty 
of  forgiveness,  the  ways  of  seeking  and  ob- 
taining the  forgiveness  are  identical. 

The  consequences  of  breaking  the  Jungle 
law  are  different;  the  weight  of  its  punish- 
ment falls  unevenly,  falls  immeasurably  more 
heavily  upon  the  weaker. 

There  are  sins  a woman  may  fall  into,  the 


Liberty 


33 


committing  of  which,  in  so  far  as  she  may 
have  been  untaught,  unhelped,  and  the  victim 
of  a bad  upbringing,  may  not  have  involved 
great  guilt  in  the  eyes  of  Almighty  God,  but 
may  have  involved  the  breaking  of  one  of  the 
Jungle  laws,  whose  punishment  lasts  the 
length  of  life. 

It  is  because  it  is  possible  for  a girl, 
through  ignorance,  to  run  the  risk  of  incur- 
ring an  injury  from  which  there  is  no  com- 
plete redress  in  this  life,  that  all  men  and 
women  with  any  goodness  and  chivalry  in 
them  constitute  themselves  her  friends,  and 
so  many  knights  errant  in  her  behalf.  They 
have  lived  long  enough  to  have  seen  the 
Jungle  law,  when  broken,  dealing  out  its 
uneven  retribution,  and  they  feel  the  pity 
of  it. 

We  are  each  of  us  to  a certain  extent  the 
creatures  of  environment. 

An  animal  is  strongest  in  those  qualities 
which  his  surroundings  have  made  necessities 
of  his  existence,  such  as  swiftness,  or  cun- 
ning, or  daring. 

For  the  same  reason  human  beings  are 
likely  to  be  dependent  or  independent, 
thoughtful  and  reasonable,  or  careless  or  im- 
pulsive, according  as  the  circumstances  of 
their  lives  have  called  the  one  or  the  other 
qualities  into  play. 

A new  environment  will  develop  new  qual- 
ities in  due  course,  but  the  dangerous  time  is 


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that  immediately  following  the  change.  It 
would  be  possible  to  emerge  from  school  well 
equipped  with  the  double  self-control  we  con- 
sidered in  the  last  chapter,  and  yet  to  make 
serious  mistakes  unless  awake  to  the  need  of 
a guide. 

How  then  can  you  best  learn  what  you  are 
free  to  do,  what  not  ? 

All  are  not  placed  in  the  same  circum- 
stances ; some  of  you  have  homes  and  careful 
parents  always  at  hand  to  advise,  others  of 
you  will  have  to  go  among  strangers,  and 
others  again  will  be  obliged  to  enter  some 
profession  and  earn  a living. 

In  whatsoever  surroundings  you  find  your- 
selves there  will  always  be  someone  whom 
you  will  observe  to  be  generally  respected.  In 
school  life  certain  girls  exercised  a good  in- 
fluence and  had  a healthy  tone  about  them, 
and,  whatever  social  circle  you  may  enter, 
you  will  observe  that  these  girls  have  their 
counterparts.  It  is  with  such  you  would  do 
wisely  to  take  counsel. 

No  one  changes  a state  of  life  without  hav- 
ing much  to  learn  and  being  obliged  to  seek 
the  shelter  of  someone’s  wing  at  first.  It 
matters  a great  deal  whose  wing.  Many 
good  people  deserving  all  respect  do  not  keep 
up  with  the  times  in  their  ideas  of  the  per- 
missible, and  imagine  a Jungle  wall  to  be 
still  standing  long  after  it  has  been  removed. 
It  would  be  a mistake  to  consult  one  of  these. 


Liberty 


35 


On  whatever  other  subjects  one  may  prof- 
itably seek  counsel  of  one's  grandmother,  it 
would  be  foolish  to  consult  her  upon  the  cur- 
rent etiquette  of  the  day  if  she  had  retired 
from  society  for  many  years. 

Choose  someone  of  your  world,  of  your 
social  set,  of  your  new  profession,  not  the 
one  most  likely  to  fall  in  with  your  own  in- 
clinations, but  the  one  most  deserving  of  es- 
teem, and  you  will  avoid  the  risk  of  making 
a false  start  and  being  gravely  misjudged. 

The  dwellers  in  the  Jungle  make  no  allow- 
ances for  ignorance  ; they  assume  you  must 
know  what  they  all  know,  and  should  they 
see  you  in  the  wrong  place  and  the  wrong 
set  they  would  conclude  that  you  had  a 
natural  affinity  to  both. 

I think  it  will  be  helpful  to  take  a brief 
survey  of  the  social  changes  that  have  been 
going  on  in  the  non-Catholic  world  during 
the  last  half  century,  especially  with  regard 
to  women,  and  to  endeavor  to  understand 
what  forces  have  been  at  work  to  bring  about 
the  present  state  of  society. 

You  will  come  across  much  that  will  as- 
tonish and  shock  you,  much  that  will  strike 
you  as  brilliant  and  dazzling,  and  not  a little 
that  will  command  your  respect.  You  will 
hear  above  all  a great  deal  of  extravagant 
talk  of  liberty,  of  the  right  to  live  your  own 
life,  and  of  independence,  and  if  you  are  ob- 
servant you  will  discover  that  these  ideas  are 


36  Light  for  New  Times 


often  confused,  contradictory,  and  have  no 
stability  of  belief  underlying  them. 

What  is  known  as  the  “woman’s  move- 
ment” began  in  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  was  a reaction  from  the  state  of 
oppression  that  could  never  have  taken  ex- 
actly the  form  it  did  had  the  country  kept 
the  faith. 

To  whatever  extent  Catholic  women  may 
have  suffered  from  lack  of  education  from 
time  to  time,  they  have  always  enjoyed  a lib- 
erty that  exists  nowhere  outside  of  the 
Church,  liberty  in  the  spiritual  life. 

The  Church  has  ever  recognized  their  free- 
dom to  choose  the  religious  life,  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  their  ascending  to  heights  of  sanc- 
tity and  knowledge. 

Devotion  to  our  Lady  fostered  the  belief  in 
the  dignity  of  womanhood,  and  the  sacra- 
mental nature  of  marriage  raised  the  position 
of  women  very  high  in  the  home.  Outside 
the  Church  things  were  different.  Frag- 
mentary forms  of  Christianity  survived  in 
the  separated  churches. 

Faith  in  the  Incarnation  was  tampered 
with,  devotion  to  our  Lady  ceased,  marriage 
was  no  longer  recognized  as  a sacrament, 
and  ideas  concerning  women  inevitably  de- 
teriorated. 

Since  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries, 
until  the  last  century,  no  effort  was  made  to 
educate  them. 


Liberty  37 


Their  position  in  married  life  was  one  of 
distinct  inferiority.  The  unmarried  led  nar- 
row, starved,  and  dependent  lives,  and  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  were 
looked  upon  with  a certain  amount  of  con- 
tempt, and  that  it  was  the  fashion  to  make,  at 
their  expense,  jests  in  the  worst  possible  taste. 

Failings,  that  were  the  inevitable  outcome 
of  their  surroundings  and  narrowed  hori- 
zons, were  regarded  as  inherent  in  feminine 
nature,  for  mankind  lacked,  and  outside  the 
Church  still  lacks,  a fixed  ideal  for  woman- 
hood. 

A feeling  of  unrest  and  dissatisfaction 
with  the  existing  state  of  things  grew,  until 
it  resulted  in  a great  educational  movement 
which  swept  over  the  face  of  the  nation,  and 
in  a surprisingly  short  space  of  time  the 
doors  of  many  professions  and  useful  careers 
were  opened  to  women.  The  ideas  of  parents 
with  regard  to  the  education  and  future  ca- 
reers of  their  daughters  underwent  a great 
change.  The  movement  was,  in  the  main,  in 
the  right  direction,  and  the  zeal  and  serious- 
ness with  which  girls  set  about  availing 
themselves  of  the  new  opportunities  were  be- 
yond all  praise. 

Much  of  the  knowledge  and  influence  they 
now  gained  was  used  in  the  interests  of  poor 
and  less  fortunate  women,  and  more  than  one 
Act  of  Parliament  owes  its  origin  to  the 
energy  and  devotion  of  women. 


38  Light  for  New  Times 


It  is  not  surprising  that  in  a movement  so 
universal,  eccentricities  and  extravagances 
should  have  occurred,  and  that  in  its  early 
stages  individuals  rushed  to  extremes  and 
sacrificed  many  of  the  graces  of  womanhood. 
Nor  is  it  surprising  that  a good  deal  of  re- 
grettable and  unwholesome  fiction  has  come 
from  the  pen  of  women.  Through  the  talent 
and  artistic  power  of  much  modern  litera- 
ture, the  absence  of  any  bed-rock  of  belief  or 
standard  of  right  and  wrong  is  only  too 
apparent. 

The  courage  which  women  had  acquired  in 
availing  themselves  of  the  new  advantages, 
and  the  intellectual  power  attained,  when  not 
restrained  by  faith  or  illuminated  by  revela- 
tion, developed  in  many  instances  into  license 
of  thought  and  a reckless,  irresponsible 
handling  in  fiction  of  the  very  foundations 
of  morality. 

You  Catholic  girls  are  able  to  enter  these 
new  liberties  at  an  immense  advantage.  You 
are  in  the  position  of  travelers  with  a com- 
pass, who  need  not  be  asking  the  way  from 
every  chance  passer-by.  You  should  be  able 
to  direct  those  whom  you  meet  upon  the  jour- 
ney. Do  not  allow  yourselves  to  be  dazzled 
by  the  brilliance  and  intellectual  power  you 
may  meet  with.  You  have  the  true  founda- 
tion, and  if  you  will  exert  yourselves  you  can 
have  the  intellectual  power,  too,  and  then  you 
will  become  helpers  of  many  who  are  poor  in 


Liberty 


39 


the  things  in  which  you  are  rich.  You  need 
then,  as  you  stand  on  the  threshold  of  life, 
self-control,  which  we  considered  in  the  last 
chapter,  and  an  intelligent  understanding  of 
the  new  environment  you  are  to  enter,  before 
you  can  hope  for  any  measure  of  real  liberty. 
Indeed,  this  is  no  world  in  which  to  be  idle 
and  frivolous! 


2 3 8 19 


in 

Responsibility 

The  heaven  of  heaven  is  the  Lord's : but  the  earth  He 
has  given  to  the  children  of  men. —Psalm  cxiii.  16. 

We  may  define  a responsibility  as  a task  to 
be  done  or  a standard  to  be  attained,  which 
we  cannot  leave  undone  or  unattained  with- 
out harm  to  ourselves  or  others.  For  ex- 
ample, health  is  a responsibility,  which  we 
cannot  neglect  without  injury  to  ourselves, 
and  indirectly  through  ourselves  to  other  peo- 
ple. If  carefully  thought  over,  we  shall  see 
that  there  is  a responsibility  connected  with 
every  gift  and  opportunity  that  we  have,  and 
that  the  desire  to  be  rid  of  part  of  the  toil 
and  effort  connected  with  our  obligations  is 
as  old  as  the  Fall,  and  was  first  voiced  in  that 
guilty  cry  of  Cain,  “Am  I my  brother’s 
keeper  ?”  All  down  the  ages,  in  one  form  or 
another,  that  questioning  cry  has  been  sent 
up  in  excuse  for  neglect  or  wrong  done,  and 
Almighty  God  has  answered  it  plainly 
enough  across  the  pages  of  history.  Ever 
since  the  Fall  there  has  been  no  choice  for 
man,  if  he  wish  to  win  any  blessing  for  him- 
self or  others,  but  to  toil  and  put  forth  effort. 

Not  to  bewilder  ourselves  between  our 


) 


Responsibility 


4i 


own  obligations  and  those  of  others,  let  us 
consider  what  are  the  chief  responsibilities 
laid  upon  Catholic  girls  who  are  to  live  in  the 
world.  Naturally  these  unfold  themselves 
gradually  to  the  individual  and  present  them- 
selves in  small  and  simple  things  at  first.  It 
is  necessary,  however,  to  have  a broad  notion 
as  to  what  are  the  especial  needs  of  our  times, 
that  we  may  the  more  readily  recognize  our 
own  responsibilities  when  we  meet  them. 

What  we  do,  and  what  we  may  be  capable 
of  doing  some  day,  depends  entirely  on  what 
we  are,  and  happily  there  is  enough  scope  in 
the  small  responsibilities  laid  upon  us  at 
home,  in  the  management  of  our  clothes,  of 
our  money  and  of  our  relationships  with  the 
rest  of  the  household,  to  test  what  we  are, 
and  to  what  extent  we  are  capable  of  under- 
taking larger  duties. 

But  there  is  one  paramount  duty  for  each 
Catholic  girl  upon  leaving  school,  and  that  is 
to  use  every  opportunity  in  her  way  of  de- 
veloping herself  and  of  continuing  her  edu- 
cation, in  order  to  reach  the  very  high  level 
of  intelligence  which  is  the  average  intelli- 
gence of  the  present  day. 

It  is  not  possible  to  remain  stationary  at 
any  given  mental  level,  and  if  we  content  our- 
selves with  doing  only  what  we  can  do  easily, 
and  are  satisfied  with  the  knowledge  we  al- 
ready possess,  we  shall  find  what  was  once 
easy  gradually  becoming  difficult,  and  our 


42 


Light  for  New  Times 


small  stock  of  knowledge  steadily  dwindling, 
until  we  arrive  at  a much  lower  level  than 
that  from  which  we  started.  There  is  no 
choice  between  effort  and  deterioration.  It  is 
not  a question  of  abstract  intellectual  studies 
merely,  though  these  are  as  good  an  exercise 
for  the  mind  as  gymnastics  are  for  the  body. 
Nowadays  women  are  expected  to  bring  a 
trained  intelligence  to  everything  they  lay 
their  hands  to.  Every  woman  in  her  capacity 
of  homemaker  must  have  some  sound  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws  of  sanitation  and  hygiene, 
and  must  be  capable  of  organization  and  of 
training  others.  The  days  of  indulgence  to- 
wards amateurism,  and  inefficiency  in  wom- 
en on  the  score  of  their  sex,  are  irrevocably 
gone.  There  are  naturally  branches  in  every 
art  and  craft  more  suited  to  women’s  special 
gifts  than  others,  but  there  is  but  one  com- 
mon standard  of  excellence. 

In  making  efforts  to  develop  yourself  you 
will  be  rendering  a real  service  to  the  cause 
of  religion ; and  in  neglecting  to  make  them, 
you  will  be,  to  the  extent  of  your  power, 
damaging  the  prestige  of  the  Catholic  body 
in  England.  And  if  it  should  occur  to  you 
to  share  the  mistaken  piety  of  the  person 
who  asked,  “What  need  has  God  of  human 
learning?”  think  of  the  wise  answer,  “He 
has  still  less  need  of  human  ignorance.” 

When  I speak  of  continuing  your  educa- 
tion, I am  using  the  word  in  its  deepest  sense. 


Responsibility 


43 


An  educated  person  has  his  faculties  trained 
and  disciplined;  he  has  an  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  his  own  place  and  significance  in  the 
order  of  things,  and  he  judges  of  persons  and 
events  from  an  information  that  extends  far 
beyond  the  bounds  of  his  own  personal  ex- 
perience. An  uneducated  person  is  the  re- 
verse of  all  this.  Should  you  meet  someone 
who  appears  to  act  from  motives  less  per- 
sonal and  impulsive  than  yours,  whose  sense 
of  honor  is  more  delicate,  who  is  more  cour- 
teous and  tactful  to  strangers,  more  chari- 
table to  those  who  differ  from  him,  then  you 
have  met  a more  highly  educated  person  than 
yourself. 

And  I think  I can  put  my  finger  on  a spot 
where  convent-bred  girls  are  apt  to  be  un- 
educated ; I should  like  to  say  were  apt  to  be, 
but  although  the  phenomenon  is  rarer,  it  is 
still  far  too  frequent.  They  have,  during 
their  school-days,  allowed  those  treacherous 
emotions  and  affections  to  usurp  a place  en- 
tirely outside  their  province;  they  have  al- 
lowed them  to  determine  their  conduct  and 
actions.  They  worked  well,  or  did  right,  be- 
cause they  were  fond  of  the  nun  who  taught 
them,  and  thought  little  or  nothing  of  the 
principle  behind,  or  of  the  will  of  Almighty 
God.  In  the  same  way  they  took  a dislike  to 
another  nun,  and  the  subject  she  taught  was 
neglected  or  ill  done : their  heart  was  not  in 
it.  All  the  while  they  were  quite  unaware 


44 


Light  for  New  Times 


what  primitive  and  instinctive  creatures  they 
were  allowing  themselves  to  become,  and 
how,  instead  of  aiming  at  a Christian  stan- 
dard which  places  woman  on  an  equality 
with  man  as  a reasonable  being,  they  were 
really  tending  towards  the  Mohammedan 
ideal  that  denies  her  a soul.  If  unchecked  in 
these  tendencies,  they  would  ultimately  find 
their  moral  peers  amongst  a tribe  of  savages. 

And  what  a difference  between  the  atmos- 
phere of  a class,  where  these  feverish  pref- 
erences, these  hysterical  fancies  and  antipa- 
thies prevail,  with  their  accompanying  jeal- 
ousies and  lassitudes,  and  one  filled  with  girls 
keenly  interested  in  the  subject  taught,  taking 
a healthy  pleasure  in  work,  and  full  of  the 
happiness  that  comes  from  the  right  use  of 
faculties. 

What  is  the  result  of  this  enervating  mis- 
use of  affections?  A girl  leaves  school  and 
lives  near  a poor  mission,  where  work  which 
the  laity  can  do  cries  to  be  done ; her  help  is 
needful  in  a girls’  club,  or  sodality,  or  in 
the  care  of  a neglected  chapel,  but  she  does 
not  like  the  priest ! All  is  finished ! no  work 
for  our  Lord  to  be  got  from  her ! Or,  almost 
worse,  she  is  not  interested  in  a work  or  a 
cause,  but  she  does  like  the  priest  or  the  nun 
in  charge  of  a sodality.  She  is  always  about 
whether  she  can  be  of  use  or  not,  and  she  is 
not  alone ; twenty  others  experience  the  same 
attraction,  and  are  competing  with  her  for 


Responsibility 


45 


favor,  or  notice,  or  a word  of  praise,  and  we 
have  that  bad  atmosphere  of  the  class-room 
back  again.  Such  sights  make  one  cover 
one’s  face  with  shame,  that  girls  should  have 
so  little  desire  to  climb  to  higher  things,  and 
do  not  see  the  deplorable  weakness  and  folly 
of  such  a misuse  of  God-given  faculties. 

All  growth  entails  pain  and  effort,  but  rest 
assured  that  if  you  feel  there  is  truth  in  this 
description  and  that  it  applies  to  you  in  anv 
degree,  you  are  not  ready  for  any  real  work 
in  the  world  until  you  have  enthroned  reason 
in  its  proper  place  and  given  your  affections 
that  discipline  which  is  the  only  soil  in  which 
they  can  grow  and  develop  upward.  It  is  all 
the  more  important  for  you  to  realize  that 
this  employment  of  the  affections  is  a sign  of 
want  of  education,  because  modern  training 
has  almost  stamped  it  out  of  public  girls’ 
schools  and  banished  it  to  the  uneducated 
classes,  fairly  represented  by  domestic 
servants. 

Let  us  face  the  truth,  the  only  road  to  hu- 
mility, and  in  doing  so  we  shall  at  the  same 
time  do  ourselves  justice.  The  truth  is  that 
we  are  in  many  ways  behind  the  standard  of 
the  day,  but  it  is  also  true  to  say  that  our  be- 
ing so  is  inevitable. 

When  we  look  back  upon  history  we  have 
to  admit  that  it  is  surprising  that  we  are  as 
far  advanced  in  education  as  we  are.  It  rests 
with  the  present  generation  of  girls  to  push 


46  Light  for  New  Times 


that  advance  still  further,  and  to  show  that 
those  who  belong  to  the  Church  of  Christ  are 
in  every  way  as  keen  for  their  own  and  oth- 
ers’ progress  as  their  sisters. 

Not  so  very  long  ago  Catholics  in  England 
were  forced  to  live  a life  quite  apart;  they 
could  not,  even  if  they  had  wished  it,  enter 
into  public  life  or  mix  freely  in  society. 
Girls  were  taught  by  those  who  had  been  de- 
prived of  the  benefits  of  a higher  education, 
but  who  handed  on  faithfully  the  traditional 
arts  and  crafts  of  the  convent ; they  returned 
to  homes  where  amusements  necessarily  filled 
up  much  of  the  day.  They  entered  a society, 
if  they  belonged  to  the  upper  classes,  to  which 
their  families  were  intimately  bound  by  ties 
of  faith  and  relationship — a social  circle  com- 
posed of  families  sharing  the  same  traditions 
of  persecution  and  privation,  and  united  as 
only  those  can  be  united  who  have  shared  a 
common  sorrow.  What  wonder  if  their 
hearts  were  often  more  with  those  of  other 
races,  but  the  same  faith,  than  with  their  hos- 
tile fellow-countrymen. 

This  isolation,  which  began  in  necessity, 
came  to  be  prolonged  from  choice  or  from 
timidity  after  the  need  for  it  had  ceased ; 
Catholics  continued  to  hold  the  fort  after  the 
enemy  had  done  besieging.  Many  came  to 
forget  that  the  Church  is  above  all  a mis- 
sionary church  with  a message  to  the  whole 
world,  and  happy  in  the  affections,  the  inter- 


Responsibility 


47 


ests,  and  the  memories  of  the  old  circle, 
counted  it  more  cause  for  congratulation  to 
have  kept  one  intruder  out  of  their  society 
than  to  have  gained  one  soul  for  Christ.  Old 
traditions  were  carefully  preserved,  and  in 
their  midst  rigid  and  minute  class  distinc- 
tions were  adhered  to  long  after  the  broader 
and  more  democratic  spirit  of  the  age  had 
modified  them  in  general  society. 

They  slept  on  a little  after  it  was  time  to 
wake — a well-earned  sleep,  perhaps,  on  the 
part  of  those  who  had  held  the  fort  in  time 
of  need ; but  what  could  we  say  for  a genera- 
tion that  should  inherit  a capacity  for  repose 
which  they  had  done  nothing  to  earn  ? 

Meanwhile  new  movements  were  taking 
place  in  England.  The  spirit  of  God,  which 
led.  so  many  great  recruits  into  the  Catholic 
Church  some  sixty  years  ago,  also  breathed 
life  into  a movement  mysterious  and  puz- 
zling in  its  beginnings,  but  whose  inner 
meaning  and  ultimate  utility  to  the  Catholic 
cause  is  beginning  to  unfold  itself — the  so- 
called  Anglo-Catholic  revival  within  the 
Church  of  England.  In  no  other  way  could 
prejudice  and  hostility  to  Catholicism  have 
been  melted  away  to  the  extent  which  has 
been  the  case  among  the  upper  classes,  and 
people  gradually,  almost  unconsciously,  be 
led  back  to  accept  the  greater  part  of  Catholic 
teaching.  In  no  other  way  could  that  wide- 
spread interest  and  curiosity  about  the 


48  Light  for  New  Times 


Church  have  sprung  up  to  which  so  much  of 
our  modern  literature  and  fiction  bears  wit- 
ness. 

Contemporaneously  with  this  awakening 
arose  a great  philanthropic  movement,  and  a 
generation  grew  up  deeply  stirred  by  the 
needs  of  the  poor  and  the  ignorant,  whom 
modern  industry  had  massed  into  our  great 
cities,  deeply  convinced  of  the  duty  of  spend- 
ing on  their  behalf  their  gifts  and  their  ener- 
gies, and  enthusiastic  to  proclaim : “I  am 

my  brother’s  keeper.”  These  two  move- 
ments, the  religious  and  the  philanthropic, 
have  to  a great  extent  joined  hands,  and  have 
resulted  in  a vast  network  of  social  and  semi- 
religious activities. 

The  part  which  the  laity  have  played  in 
these  activities,  in  the  gift  of  their  leisure, 
their  personal  service,  their  brains  and  their 
energies,  I say  frankly,  puts  the  Catholic 
laity  to  shame. 

I would  especially  call  your  attention  to 
the  amount  of  solid  work  that  has  been  done 
by  ordinary  girls  and  women  living  in  the 
world.  And  in  pointing  out  this  I am  not  for 
a moment  forgetting  the  conspicuous  sacri- 
fices and  services  rendered  by  many  notable 
Catholics,  but  the  movement  outside  the 
Church  has  greatly  owed  its  strength  to  the 
widespread  recognition  of  the  responsibility 
of  sharing  the  social  burden,  and  of  each  in 
his  obscure  corner  of  the  earth  doing  his  ut- 


J 


Responsibility  49 


most  for  the  welfare  of  those  less  fortunate 
than  himself. 

Almighty  God  might,  of  course,  act  inde- 
pendently of  human  aid,  but  He  has  chosen 
otherwise;  “the  earth  He  has  given  to  the 
children  of  men,”  and  through  the  work  and 
co-operation  of  the  children  of  men  His 
kingdom  is  to  be  spread.  And  here  I may 
remark  that  I have  often  heard  it  urged  in 
excuse  for  the  apathy  of  our  laity  that  the 
immense  output  of  non-Catholic  energy  is 
due  to  an  inner  unrest,  a striving  to  fill  a 
conscious  void  within,  and  a weak  faith  that 
craves  to  see  immediate  results.  It  is,  of 
course,  true  that  with  the  peace  that  comes 
from  a closer  union  with  God  than  is  possible 
outside  the  Church  the  strain  and  effort  to  do 
the  work  would  diminish,  and  the  tone  and 
atmosphere  of  the  work  itself  would  change ; 
but  are  we  to  believe  that  hearts  would  cool 
and  grow  indifferent  to  the  needs  of  others  ? 
We  should  indeed  have  misread  the  lives  of 
God’s  saints  to  think  this. 

Because  God  has  lavished  graces  upon  you 
Catholic  girls,  will  He  not  expect  far  more 
from  you  than  from  those  whom  He  has  al- 
lowed to  remain  in  their  difficulties?  Are 
you  to  do  less  for  the  love  of  Him  you  pos- 
sess than  is  done  by  those  in  the  longing  and 
hope  of  knowing  Him  ? Wherever  there  is  a 
chapel  neglected,  and  showing  in  its  shabbi- 
ness and  poverty  the  want  of  loving  and  con- 


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tinual  care,  wherever  there  is  a child  unin- 
structed or  a cottage  unvisited,  there  is  a 
work  for  girls  to  do. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  intelli- 
gent co-operation  of  all  the  laity  is  needed, 
according  to  their  gifts  and  capacities,  if  the 
Catholic  Church  is  to  take  the  place  that 
should  be  hers,  as  the  centre  of  vigorous  life 
and  influence  in  the  nation. 

Nor  am  I forgetting  the  great  work  and 
devotion  of  the  women  in  the  religious  or- 
ders, but  you  must  remember  that  that  work 
is  to  a great  extent  hidden  from  the  gaze  of 
the  outer  world ; it  is  you,  the  laity  in  the 
world,  who  have  to  carry  the  light  of  Faith 
for  all  to  see.  You  are  the  little  cities  set 
upon  the  hills,  and  it  is  very  largely  by  you, 
and  what  you  are,  and  what  you  do.  that 
Catholicism  will  be  judged.  A smouldering 
fire  never  heats  anything  red  hot,  and  can  you 
wonder  if  some  Protestant,  whose  own  strug- 
gles and  difficulties  have  developed  in  her 
great  energy  and  zeal,  is  not  greatly  stirred 
at  the  sight  of  a Catholic  girl  who  has  re- 
ceived so  much  without  exertion  of  her  own, 
and  yet  is  content  to  practise  the  minimum  of 
devotion  permissible ; and  counts  it  no  shame 
to  have  spent  so  much  time  on  her  dress  and 
her  amusements  that  she  has  none  to  give  for 
the  poor  and  needy  ? I hope  to  write  more  in 
detail  about  the  practical  work  that  can  be 
done,  and  the  way  to  set  about  it,  also  about 


Responsibility 


5i 


professional  life  and  the  problems  that  ac- 
company it,  in  other  chapters. 

We  will  now  turn  our  attention  to  two 
immediate  responsibilities  that  await  every 
girl,  Catholic  and  non-Catholic  alike,  upon 
leaving  school,  responsibilities  that  are  usu- 
ally welcomed  with  open  arms : the  control 
of  a little  money  and  the  choice  of  clothes. 
A good  deal  might  be  said  on  both  subjects. 
As  regards  the  spending  of  money,  I will 
only  point  out  that  there  is  some  danger  that 
a convent-bred  girl  may  forget  the  duty  of 
setting  a part  of  her  money  aside  to  be  spent 
upon  others,  and  upon  the  support  of  relig- 
ion. There  have,  perhaps,  been  no'  collec- 
tions in  the  Convent  chapel ; everything  has 
been  done  for  her,  and  she  has  not  been  ac- 
customed to  devote  a portion  of  her  pocket- 
money,  however  small,  to  some  charitable 
purpose. 

The  most  practical  and  safest  plan  is,  after 
careful  thought,  to  dedicate  in  your  mind  a 
certain  portion  of  your  money,  however 
small,  for  this  purpose,  and  to  consider  only 
the  remainder  as  yours  to  spend  as  you  like. 
Giving  is  a habit  that  needs  cultivating,  for 
selfishness  and  miserliness  creep  in  unawares 
from  very  small  beginnings,  and  even  the 
small  beginnings  contract  and  tarnish  the 
character. 

Now  comes  the  dress  problem.  I believe 
the  responsibility  laid  upon  every  girl  is  to 


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make  herself  look  as  charming  as  possible, 
provided  that  in  so  doing  she  is  neither  dis- 
honest nor  unkind. 

If  the  doing  of  this  involves  effort  and 
economy  or  contrivance,  so  much  the  better 
for  her.  In  these  days  all  color  and  decora- 
tiveness in  dress  is  left  to  the  women  and 
children,  and  we  have  only  to  remember  the 
appearance  of  the  streets  and  of  social  gath- 
erings, in  a time  of  national  mourning,  to 
realize  what  a depressing  effect  upon  spirits 
and  character  would  follow  if  women  no 
longer  contributed  all  the  charm  and  grace 
to  social  life  within  their  power.  Nor 
should  this,  rightly  understood,  be  food  for 
vanity. 

In  the  souls  of  most  women  is  implanted  a 
love  of  the  beautiful,  of  color,  of  form,  and 
to  a few  is  given  an  artistic  gift  of  express- 
ing this  in  dress.  An  apparent  indifference 
to  appearance,  when  the  kind  of  life  being 
led  does  not  necessitate  great  severity  or  sim- 
plicity, far  from  being  the  sign  of  superior 
intelligence,  is  often  the  result  of  dulness  of 
mind  and  a slovenly  disposition.  The  wearer 
of  this  slovenly  dress  is  often  full  of  vanity 
at  what  she  believes  to  be  her  seriousness  and 
superiority  to  female  weaknesses.  Does  not 
this  seem  like  an  encouragement  to  all  the 
showy  extravagance  and  want  of  reticence 
to  be  seen  in  the  dress  of  recent  years? 

We  shall  see  that  the  condition  that  we  are 


Responsibility 


53 


to  infringe  neither  honesty  nor  kindness  im- 
poses many  restrictions. 

To  be  honest,  we  must  never  ape  the  style 
of  dressing  of  a social  class  to  which  we  do 
not  belong,  or  endeavor,  by  the  wretched 
form  of  vulgarity  that  translates  every  avail- 
able penny  into  clothes,  irrespective  of  other 
claims,  to  appear  to  have  more  money  than 
is  really  the  case. 

To  be  honest,  we  must  never  order  what 
we  cannot  afford  to  pay  for  within  a reason- 
able time.  I believe  there  would  be  far  less 
of  this  miserable  dishonesty,  if  the  women 
who  practise  it  could  be  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  suffering  and  anxiety  it  entails  ulti- 
mately upon  the  workers  and  toilers  who  pro- 
duce what  they  buy : people  to  whom  deferred 
payment  may  mean  semi-starvation,  and 
who  dare  not  enforce  payment  for  fear  of 
alienating  what  custom  they  have. 

A little  intelligent  inquiry  into  the  work- 
ings of  various  trades,  and  a little  sympa- 
thetic imagination  about  the  lives  of  others 
less  fortunate  than  ourselves,  will  clear  the 
matter  up.  This  would  be  a good  subject  for 
meditation  for  any  girl  who  is  about  to  man- 
age a dress  allowance  for  the  first  time. 

Although  it  is  every  girl’s  duty  to  try  to 
have  as  pleasing  an  appearance  as  possible, 
it  is  not  altogether  a simple  matter  to  suc- 
ceed. Taste  requires  educating  and  refin- 
ing, and  bringing  into  line  with  Christian 


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thought.  The  French  describe  a vulgarly 
and  unsuitably  dressed  person  as  “out  of  her 
frame.”  She  is  dressed  with  a view  to  at- 
tracting attention  to  herself,  to  deceiving 
the  spectator  as  to  her  position,  or  to  morti- 
fying and  discomfiting  less  richly  dressed 
acquaintances — all  coarse  and  egotistical  mo- 
tives, which  cause  her  to  violate  the  real  laws 
of  beauty. 

The  ideal  of  beautiful  dressing  is  that  it 
should  be  appropriate  to  the  age  and  posi- 
tion of  the  wearer,  and  to  the  occasion  on 
which  it  is  worn.  A dress  suitable  for  driv- 
ing in  a carriage  is  vulgar  when  worn  to 
walk  in  a muddy  street;  and  one  intended 
for  an  opera  or  ball  would  appear  extrava- 
gant at  a small  party,  and  the  wearer  would 
violate  the  law  of  kindness. 

The  ideal  for  a girl  should  be  to  make  her- 
self charming  while  keeping  strictly  within 
the  limits  of  her  means,  and  to  endeavor,  if 
she  has  talent  and  taste,  to  show  kindness  by 
helping  others  who  happen  to  be  less  gifted 
in  the  art  to  be  charming  also.  The  coarse- 
fibred  and  selfish  mind,  that  wishes  to  attract 
notice  to  self  and  to  score  a vulgar  success, 
betrays  itself  in  an  unwillingness  to  be  help- 
ful to  others,  and  inevitably  in  an  extrava- 
gant and  advertising  appearance. 

Great  temptations  and  real  opportunities 
for  heroism  revolve  around  this  subject  of 
dress,  for  it  frequently  happens  that  girls 


Responsibility 


55 


with  very  small  allowances  belong,  by  reason 
of  their  birth,  to  a set  where  the  standard  of 
dress  is  beyond  what  they  can  well  manage, 
so  that  they  have  to  accept  cheerfully  the  role 
of  being  always  the  simplest  or  the  shabbiest 
in  the  assembly. 

The  responsibility  laid  upon  Catholic  girls 
in  this  matter  of  dress  is  to  see  that  their 
standard  of  honor  and  kindness  is  in  no  way 
behind  that  of  the  very  highest  principled 
non-Catholic,  to  see  that  they  are  not  found 
to  be  more  thoughtless  and  more  careless  as 
to  the  principles  involved  in  extravagance 
and  display.  Also  to  look  well  to  it  that  the 
time  and  thought  given  to  the  subject  is  not 
excessive,  and  does  not  violate  the  law  of 
kindness  by  stealing  time  that  should  be 
given  to  others,  or  to  cultivating  their  minds 
for  the  benefit  of  others.  Those  in  high  posi- 
tion cannot  too  constantly  remember  how 
great  is  the  force  of  example,  and  that  a want 
of  restraint  in  luxurious  dressing  on  their 
part  may  awaken  a fire  of  ambition  in  the 
heart  of  some  poor  girl,  who  can  satisfy  her 
newly  aroused  passion  only  at  the  cost  of 
mortal  sin. 

Another  aspect  of  the  dress  question  is 
that  of  modesty. 

Now,  within  the  lines  of  decency,  what 
strikes  the  spectator  as  modest  or  the  reverse 
in  dress  is  very  much  a matter  of  custom. 
We  very  soon  get  so  used  to  what  we  con- 


56  Light  for  New  Times 

tinually  see  that  it  produces  very  little  im- 
pression upon  us,  one  way  or  another;  and 
we  may  be  shocked  at  a fashion  in  a foreign 
people  which  to  them  appears  decorous  from 
long  use,  while  our  most  correct  attire  may 
give  them  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  our 
habits. 

But  there  is  such  a thing  as  a Christian 
standard  of  modesty  which  is  common  to  all 
professing  Christians,  whatever  their  nation- 
ality. I should  define  this  modesty  as  the 
avoidance  of  the  unnecessary  display  of  mere- 
ly natural  and  physical  beauty.  Whatever 
the  natural  beauty  of  the  head  and  face,  it  is 
also  the  seat  and  mirror  of  intellectual 
beauty,  in  a direct  way  that  can  be  claimed 
for  no  other  part  of  the  body. 

No  face  is  evil  and  degraded  by  reason  of 
the  presence  of  physical  beauty,  but  by  reason 
of  the  absence  of  spiritual  and  moral  beauty. 
The  head  and  face  therefore  are  always  in- 
tended to  be,  for  human  beings,  the  centre  of 
interest  and  attraction,  and  between  the  re- 
fined decolletage  that  bears  this  object  well  in 
view,  and  the  unrefined  display  which  aims 
merely  at  attracting  admiration  to  the  beauty 
of  any  other  physical  charm,  there  is  all  the 
difference  between  a Christian  and  a pagan 
motive. 

These  matters  are  regulated  for  most  girls 
by  the  custom  of  the  society  in  which  they 
move ; but,  unless  care  be  taken,  there  is  room 


Responsibility  57 


for  the  pagan  motive  to  slip  in  under  cover  of 
any  fashion. 

Here  is  a final  responsibility  to  which 
every  girl  should  give  heed.  Whether  she 
will  or  no,  she  is  helping  to  raise  or  lower 
the  thoughts  concerning  women  of  every 
man  she  meets.  You  Catholic  girls  should 
do  your  utmost  to  raise  the  standard  of  such 
thoughts  very  high,  for  it  rests  with  you  to 
mirror  forth  in  your  lives,  to  a world  greatly 
needing  them,  some  of  the  graces  of  Mary 
Immaculate. 


IV 

Professional  Life 

Now  it  is  only  by  labor  that  thought  can  be  made 
healthy,  and  only  by  thought  that  labor  can  be  made 
happy,  and  the  two  cannot  be  separated  with  impunity. 

— Ruskin. 

A professional,  as  popularly  understood,  is 
one  who  pursues  some  kind  of  calling  as  a 
means  of  livelihood  which,  while  it  requires 
natural  aptitudes,  also  necessitates  a more  or 
less  elaborate  previous  training.  Similarly, 
an  amateur  is  a person  who,  while  working 
upon  a subject  for  the  love  of  it  and  by  the 
light  of  his  natural  gifts,  disdains  to  acquire 
the  thorough  training  that  would  give  his 
labors  commercial  value  in  the  open  market. 
The  amateur  flourished  in  days  when  a social 
stigma  rested  upon  the  earning  of  money, 
and  when  the  acquiring  of  a training  usually 
involved  temporary  isolation  from  his  social 
class.  He  is  an  all  but  extinct  species  to-day, 
and  upon  the  funeral  pyre  of  his  tribe  per- 
ished vanities,  futilities,  and  complacencies 
untold. 

Women  have  now  entered  the  world  of 
competitive  skill.  In  some  professions  they 
compete  side  by  side  with  men ; in  others,  as 


Professional  Life 


59 


for  instance  the  stage,  nursing,  and  the 
teaching  of  girls,  they  compete  with  their 
own  sex.  These  latter  occupations  have  been 
followed  by  women  from  comparatively  early 
times,  but  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  they 
have  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  profes- 
sions; and  this  has  come  about  because 
women  of  gentle  birth,  good  education,  and 
trained  for  their  work,  have  entered  these 
fields  of  labor. 

The  new  order  of  society  has  been  suffi- 
ciently long  in  operation  to  make  it  possible 
for  us  to  begin  to  see  what  the  effects  of  pro- 
fessional life  are  upon  feminine  nature  in 
general.  There  are  risks  and  compensations, 
and  we  must  endeavor  to  see  how  far  super- 
natural grace  obviates  the  risks  and  preserves 
the  womanly  nature  intact.  When  we  have 
glanced  at  this  deeper  view  of  the  question, 
we  must  consider  the  outlook  for  girls  in  the 
various  professions  from  a practical  point  of 
view. 

Roughly  speaking,  two  classes  of  women 
enter  professions. 

One  class  consists  of  those  who  are  com- 
pelled by  force  of  circumstances  to  earn  a 
livelihood,  and  who  may  have  no  inclination 
for  the  independence  and  personal  effort 
which  the  life  involves,  and  possibly  no 
marked  abilities.  In  past  times  such  women 
usually  became  private  governesses  under 
very  unsatisfactory  conditions,  or,  metaphor- 


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ically  speaking,  clung  round  the  neck  of  the 
nearest  male  relative,  who,  if  not  disposed, 
was  more  or  less  forced  by  public  opinion  to 
support  them.  Their  idleness  was  harmful 
to  themselves  and  a burden  for  others;  and 
ideas  have  so  far  changed  that  nowadays 
relatives  prefer  to  spend  what  little  money  is 
available  upon  providing  the  girl  with  a 
training  to  enable  her  to  support  herself, 
rather  than  to  invest  it  to  enable  her  to  live  a 
life  of  genteel  penury. 

The  other  class  consists  of  women  who 
have  gifts  so  decided  and  personalities  so 
marked  that  they  are  compelled  from  within 
to  seek  an  outlet  for  their  powers.  What  be- 
came of  them  under  the  old  conditions  ? They 
too  often  furnished  society  with  eccentric 
characters,  and  were  known,  somewhat 
misleadingly,  as  “strong-minded  women.” 
Thwarted  powers  find  strange  outlets,  and 
many  an  old  lady  has  attempted  to  express 
her  contempt  for  the  conventional  dulness 
of  her  neighbors  by  defying  the  fashions  and 
inventing  her  own  code  of  manners.  When 
women  of  this  latter  class  have  also  been 
among  those  whom  poverty  compelled  to 
work,  they  endeavored  to  pick  up  the  crumbs 
of  a training  in  a Bohemian  world  where 
women  were  little  respected,  and  where  no 
provision  was  made  for  their  legitimate  ad- 
vent. 

Are  we  to  believe  that  any  women  enter 


Professional  Life 


61 


professions  as  wholeheartedly  and  with  the 
same  stability  of  purpose  as  do  men  ? 

You  will  remember  that  I laid  it  down  in 
the  first  chapter  that  every  woman  of  what- 
ever type  owns  in  her  heart,  sooner  or  later, 
to  the  conviction  that  marriage  would  be  the 
most  complete  life  for  her.  If  this  is  so,  how 
far  does  it  modify  her  attitude  towards  pro- 
fessional life? 

To  different  types  of  women  love  and  mar- 
riage are  foreshadowed  very  differently,  and 
it  is  necessary  to  realize  this  in  order  to 
understand  how  their  outlook  on  a life  of 
work  is  colored  by  these  diverse  views. 

The  women  who  enter  professions  by  force 
rather  than  choice,  those  who  are  not  natu- 
rally attracted  by  independence  and  work, 
have  pre-eminently  a love  of  home,  of  affec- 
tion, and  of  shelter.  They  find  their  happi- 
ness in  the  nursery,  their  recreation  in  society 
and  support  in  a certain  atmosphere  of  con- 
ventionality. They  are  primarily  in  love  with 
the  married  state  as  such,  and  are  disposed 
to  look  gratefully  upon  any  individual  man 
who  is  kind  and  agreeable  and  whose  affec- 
tion will  enable  them  to  enter  it ; nor  are  they 
exacting  as  to  the  character  of  the  individual, 
provided  that  he  falls  reasonably  into  line 
with  the  men  of  their  social  world. 

The  supernatural  woman  of  this  type  bears 
a higher  impress.  She  is  deeply  impressed 
with  the  sanctity  of  the  married  state,  she 


62  Light  for  New  Times 

dreams  of  the  privilege  of  training  immortal 
souls  for  God  and  regarding  her  husband  as 
joint  partner  in  this  responsibility;  she  has 
with  him,  in  whatever  other  ways  they  may 
lack  community  of  interest,  this  deep  bond  of 
union.  Giving  first  the  best  and  strongest 
love  of  her  heart  to  Almighty  God,  there  is 
an  atmosphere  of  dignity  about  her  that  can 
never  be  attained  by  the  woman  who,  know- 
ing no  God,  clings  with  hopeless  dependen- 
cies and  impossible  exactions  upon  the  love 
of  a creature.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  profes- 
sional life  is  regarded  by  such  women  as  these 
as  a kind  of  exile,  or  at  best  a tolerable  place 
of  waiting  until  their  dream  of  married  hap- 
piness is  fulfilled,  although  it  would  be  unfair 
to  assume  that  this  attitude  of  mind  prevents 
their  giving  thorough  and  conscientious  at- 
tention to  the  work  of  the  present. 

Love  and  marriage  are  shadowed  forth  in 
the  minds  of  the  women  of  strong  individu- 
ality differently;  they  dream  only  of  mar- 
riage as  the  natural  sequel  to  an  overmaster- 
ing attachment.  They  demand  in  the  man 
who  inspires  this  attachment  a kindred  spirit, 
intellectual  sympathy  and  harmony  of  char- 
acter. They  do  not  enter  the  married  state 
unless  led  captive  by  the  conqueror.  Con- 
quest implies  previous  resistance,  and  it  is  a 
fact  that  all  the  intellectual  and  artistic  pow- 
ers, in  the  exercise  of  which  a woman  has 
hitherto  found  happiness,  put  themselves  in 


Professional  Life 


63 


battle  array  and  make  a fight  for  liberty 
when  the  conqueror  appears,  whose  ultimate 
victory  they  foresee  will  greatly  curtail  their 
liberty.  This  conflict  of  powers  is  a whole- 
some test  of  the  genuineness  of  the  passion 
felt.  Strong  personalities  have  the  gift  of 
inspiring  strong  attachments,  and  if  it  is 
women  of  this  type  whose  careers  have 
blotted  with  crime  and  stained  with  tragedy 
the  annals  of  history,  it  is  also  such  women 
who,  when  sanctified,  have  become  glorious 
saints,  have  founded  religious  orders,  and 
have  led  lives  of  heroic  devotion  in  the  ser- 
vice of  God.  When  their  vocation  has  been 
marriage  they  have  made  notable  mothers, 
and  it  is  such  who  have  usually  borne  sons 
who  have  left  their  mark  upon  the  world’s 
history. 

Clearly  then  we  may  expect  the  best  pro- 
fessional work  from  women  of  this  type.  It 
is  only  from  them  that  we  can  hope  for  any- 
thing approaching  really  creative  work. 
They  throw  themselves  into'  their  studies  all 
the  more  zealously  because  they  realize  that 
the  time  may  be  short,  and  that  “love  the 
conqueror”  may  lurk  round  any  corner,  and 
this  thought  is  a kind  of  dear  dread  in  their 
hearts,  and  while  secretly  longing  for  the 
completion  of  their  womanly  nature  through 
love,  they  also  pray  for  some  delay  in  his 
coming. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  action  of  the 


64  Light  for  New  Times 


bread-winning  life  upon  the  character  of  the 
naturally  home-loving  woman.  For  a few 
years,  at  any  rate,  I believe  it  to  be  almost 
wholly  beneficial,  and  this  even  if  we  regard 
her  as  a merely  natural  being.  We  have  seen 
that  she  has  graces  and  what  we  understand 
as  womanly  qualities,  but  many  failings  ac- 
company these  qualities.  Such  a woman  is 
apt  to  be  weak,  unreasonable,  unimaginative 
and  narrow-minded,  incapable  of  broad 
views  or  the  judging  of  things  from  an  im- 
personal point  of  view.  I may  also  add  that 
she  is  often  ignorant  of  justice  and  honor  as 
understood  in  the  world  beyond  the  home, 
which  makes  her  a bad  citizen.  These  failings 
make  an  unwise  mother  and  a trying  wife. 

It  used  sometimes  to  be  urged  that  woman 
resembled  the  ivy,  and  man  the  oak  around 
which  it  clung.  If  the  simile  were  ever  true, 
we  have  to  thank  a mistaken  education ; and, 
mark,  the  ivy  eventually  destroys  the  oak, 
and  when  there  is  no  oak,  lies  helplessly  upon 
the  ground  or  clings  to  the  first  chance  sup- 
port. There  is  doubtless  a tendency  in  some 
women’s  nature,  once  greatly  fostered  by 
popular  sentiment,  which,  if  unchecked,  pro- 
duces qualities  that  suggested  the  simile  of 
the  ivy.  These  qualities  were  never  Chris- 
tian. 

The  “roughing  it”  which  a life  of  indepen- 
dence and  effort  entails  has  a very  bracing 
effect  upon  such  downward  tendencies;  the 


Professional  Life 


65 


mixing  with  many  characters  and  types  of 
mind  enlarges  the  mental  horizon ; the  neces- 
sity for  accuracy  and  honor  in  business  rela- 
tions deepens  the  sense  of  responsibility. 
After  a year  or  two  of  such  experience  a 
woman  is  better  fitted  for  marriage,  should 
it  come,  than  before.  She  is  more  educated, 
and  the  result  of  all  right  education  is  to  de- 
velop a lovelier  type  of  womanhood. 

After  many  years  of  professional  life, 
however,  if  marriage  does  not  come,  and  if 
she  is  a woman  without  faith  and  unsup- 
ported by  religion,  a deterioration  sets  in, 
and  she  compares  unfavorably  with  her  coun- 
terpart in  the  married  state.  Her  affections 
have  nothing,  or  at  any  rate  nothing  whole- 
some, to  feed  upon;  the  life  is  not  in  itself 
congenial,  she  has  no  personal  ambition  in 
her  work,  no  joy  in  the  use  of  faculties  for 
their  own  sake;  a profound  discontent  sets  in, 
her  character  hardens,  and  she  becomes  sel- 
fish and  unattractive,  and  too*  often  hysteri- 
cal. In  the  world  we  find  so*  many  young 
people  contented  in  their  work,  so  many  joy- 
less in  middle  age,  so  many  who  seem  to*  have 
forgotten  how  to  be  happy. 

But  if  she  have  faith  this  will  not  happen. 
Her  heart  has  known  no  period  of  starvation, 
but  has  been  steadily  nourished  and  enlarged. 
She  is  humble  and  she  loves,  and  is  therefore 
content  with  whatever  is  given  her  to  do  and 
to  bear.  Loneliness  to  her  is  not  the  utter 


66 


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loneliness  that  it  is  to  the  worldly.  She  is  at 
peace,  and  is  therefore  a centre  of  peace  to 
those  around.  There  is  an  atmosphere  of 
motherliness,  that  most  profoundly  feminine 
quality  of  all,  that  emanates  from  her.  She 
has  the  power  of  making  any  place  she  is  in 
feel  like  home.  You  must  all  have  met  these 
qualities  in  nuns  whom  you  have  known. 
The  woman  in  professional  life,  whose  heart 
loves  where  the  nun’s  heart  loves,  possesses 
them,  too,  and  brings  them  into  the  school- 
room, the  studio,  the  hospital,  or  wherever 
her  work  lies. 

And  this  type  of  woman  is  a most  valua- 
ble influence  in  the  rough  world  of  work,  and 
her  character  has  that  subtle  beauty  of  bloom 
which  flowers  only  in  a soil  of  Christian  re- 
nunciation, in  a life  lived  by  grace  in  a state 
which  is  contrary  to  natural  inclination. 

To  the  other  type  of  woman  freedom  from 
restraint  and  congenial  work  are  exhilarat- 
ing. There  is  not  the  same  danger  here  of 
discontent  and  repining  when  the  conviction 
dawns  that  life  is  likely  to  offer  little  else 
than  work,  but  there  are  other  possibilities  of 
disaster.  If  the  restraining  and  refining  in- 
fluence of  religion  be  absent  she  is  likely  to 
become  entirely  self-reliant,  and  she  is  then 
exposed  to  a danger  to  which  a man  is  not. 
At  her  present  stage  of  evolution,  at  any  rate, 
when  a woman  cuts  the  traces  and  launches 
out  into  any  realm  of  thought,  she  is  reckless 


Professional  Life 


67 


to  an  extent  unknown  to  the  masculine  intel- 
lect. Unable,  or  untrained  to  take  the  same 
broad  and  balanced  view,  and  less  in  contact 
with  the  accumulative  wisdom  of  experience 
pervading  the  masculine  world,  she  rushes 
heedlessly  on  in  pursuit  of  some  unknown 
goal.  This  is  probably  caused  by  the  same 
quality  in  her  nature  that  prompts  her  to  give 
herself  unreservedly  and  without  counting 
the  cost  to  a person  or  a cause,  and  that 
makes  her  so  almost  hopeless  to  reclaim  when 
she  has  given  herself  over  to  any  vice. 

When  once  a woman  has  tasted  personal 
freedom,  and  has  also  gone  intellectually 
astray,  there  is  little  to  hold  her  back  from 
errors  in  the  conduct  of  life.  Her  moral 
courage  and  recklessness  of  self  quickly 
bridge  the  gulf  between  thought  and  action. 
When  she  has  reached  this  point,  should  her 
nature  cry  out  for  more  affection  than  her 
surroundings  offer,  there  is  little  to  restrain 
her  from  satisfying  this  hunger  in  unlawful 
ways. 

This  I believe  to  be  the  dark  cloud  on  the 
horizon  of  the  future;  woman  emancipated, 
independent,  and  intellectually  astray.  It  is 
not  so  large  a cloud  after  all,  for  th®  majority 
of  women-workers  profess  some  religious 
belief,  and  there  is  an  encouraging  spirit  of 
inquiry  manifested  by  those  who  have  found 
their  self-evolved  philosophies  fail  when  put 
to  the  test. 


68  Light  for  New  Times 


The  Catholic  woman  carries  an  ideal  of 
womanhood1  in  her  heart,  and  the  softening 
and  refining  influence  of  her  faith  will  pre- 
serve a perpetual  springtide  in  her  affections. 

I shall  not  have  written  in  vain  if  I can 
persuade  you  that  whatever  other  indepen- 
dence a woman  can  gain,  she  can  never  be 
independent  of  affection.  This  being  so,  it  is 
common  prudence,  if  it  were  not  also  the 
highest  duty,  to  preserve  the  heart  firmly  in 
the  love  of  God,  and  also  to  make  the  utmost 
use  of  all  the  natural  ties  and  affections  that 
fall  to  your  share.  They  may  be  all  that  life 
will  offer  you,  but  if  this  should  be  so,  rest 
assured  that,  rightly  used,  they  are  sufficient. 
In  this  respect  you  can  never  be  as  men, 
though  man’s  capacity  to  live  an  isolated  life 
without  deterioration  is  apt  to  be  over-esti- 
mated. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  various  openings 
that  are  possible  for  a Catholic  girl.  There 
are  many  occupations,  and  every  year  adds  to 
their  number,  into  the  pursuit  of  which  the 
religious  difficulty  does  not  enter. 

Experience  has  pointed  to  some  experi- 
ments as  failures  and  has  confirmed  the  wis- 
dom of  others;  but  even  when  the  physical 
and  psychological  effects  of  a calling  upon 
feminine  nature  have  been  proved  to  be  satis- 
factory, it  must  be  remembered  that  there  is 
still  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  to  reckon 
with,  and  that  natural  aptitudes  and  thor- 


Professional  Life 


69 


ough  training  in  any  given  direction  are  use- 
less unless  there  is  a demand  for  the  capaci- 
ties you  offer. 

The  choice  of  a career  must  to  some  extent 
he  determined  by  whether  you  have  money 
to  spend  upon  a training  or  whether  you 
have  not,  and  also  whether  you  will  in  course 
of  time  inherit  money  or  be  dependent  upon 
your  exertions  to  the  end  of  your  days. 
Careers  such  as  that  of  medicine,  the  higher 
branches  of  teaching  or  the  fine  arts,  are 
closed  doors  unless  you  have  money  to  spend 
upon  a training,  which  in  these  cases  is  both 
long  and  expensive. 

At  one  time  teaching  was  considered  the 
most  feasible  way  for  a woman  to  earn  a liv- 
ing; but  let  us  look  at  the  prospects  for  a 
Catholic  girl.  They  are  exceedingly  poor. 
For  secondary  teaching  there  is  practically 
no  opening  at  all,  this  branch  being  exclu- 
sively in  the  hands  of  the  religious  orders. 
The  very  most  that  might  offer,  should  a girl 
have  especial  qualifications,  would  be,  now 
and  again,  posts  of  uncertain  tenure  in  a con- 
vent school,  to  fill  a gap  while  a nun  was 
training  to  take  her  place.  And  these  posts, 
when  worth  having,  would  probably  fall  to 
the  lot  of  convert  women  who  had  previously 
obtained  university  degrees  and  were  able  to 
introduce  the  newest  educational  methods. 

It  is  obviously  not  worth  while  training 
for  posts  which  do  not  exist. 


70  Light  for  New  Times 


What  is  the  outlook  for  private  gover- 
nesses ? 

Whenever  ideals  of  education  have  been 
low,  their  lot  has  been  wretched  indeed.  It 
is  hard  to  adjust  the  blame.  On  the  one 
hand,  all  kinds  of  incompetence  and  in- 
efficiency have  offered  themselves  at  salaries 
hardly  higher  than  that  received  by  the  cook ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  parents  have  thought 
so  lightly  of  what  is  of  such  vital  importance 
to  their  children’s  welfare,  that  they  have  not 
demanded  thorough  qualifications,  and  have 
not  been  willing  to  make  sacrifices  in  order 
to  pay  good  salaries.  They  have  actually 
preferred  that  the  governess  should  be  of  in- 
ferior social  rank,  as  the  more  easily  effaced 
in  the  house,  and  relegated  to  that  social 
limbo  inhabited  by  one  between  the  lady’s 
maid  and  the  guest. 

Penniless  girls  who  have  entered  situa- 
tions of  this  kind,  with  poor  qualifications 
and  miserable  pay,  leave  them  in  middle  age 
poorer  than  they  entered.  There  has  never 
been  margin  enough  from  the  salary  to  save, 
their  youth  is  gone,  very  possibly  their 
health,  and  they  are  often  practically  friend- 
less, for  their  limbo  had  no  other  tenant,  and 
permanent  friends  are  made  only  among  so- 
cial equals.  If  they  have  relatives  and  if  they 
have  been  filling  posts  in  families  much  above 
them  in  social  position,  they  are  too  often 
alienated  from  them ; for  the  superficial 


Professional  Life 


7i 


“gentility”  the  governess  thus  acquires  is  too 
often  a source  of  mutual  friction.  It  is  no- 
body’s business  to  follow  the  after  career  of 
the  ex-governess,  when  once  she  has  left  the 
family  she  has  served  to  the  best  of  her  pow- 
ers ; and  although  many  kind-hearted  people 
do  continue  to  take  an  interest  in  her,  it  re- 
quires a combination  of  kind  hearts  and 
wealth  to  make  it  possible  to  help  her  in  old 
age  or  sickness.  Thus  often  the  private  gov- 
erness drifts  down  to  die  in  the  workhouse, 
or  lingers  out  the  end  of  her  days  in  some 
charitable  home  of  rest  amongst  kindred 
human  wreckage. 

This  is  the  last  opening  which  a penniless 
girl  should  contemplate,  unless  she  be  pos- 
sessed of  so  great  a gift  for  teaching  and  can 
offer  such  qualifications  as  to  command  a 
salary  of  £100  a year  or  over.  The  salary 
must  allow  of  sufficient  margin  to  render  it 
possible  to  pay  regularly  into  a pension  fund, 
or  upon  retirement  to  buy  an  annuity.  Few 
openings,  it  is  true,  offer  so  much  as  £100  a 
year  at  the  start,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  drawbacks  in  this  case  are  great. 
Marriage  is  the  remotest  possibility,  the  iso- 
lation is  great,  the  teaching  life  is  compara- 
tively short,  and  what  are  brilliant  qualifica- 
tions at  the  start  may  be  old-fashioned  in  ten 
years,  and  thus  the  salary  will  have  to  de- 
crease instead  of  increasing.  A few  such 
well-paid  posts  would  offer  themselves,  both 


7 2 


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at  home  and  upon  the  Continent  and  also  in 
India,  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  at  present 
these  posts  are  not  proportionately  numerous 
among  Catholics,  who  have  not  as  yet  come 
to  consider  the  education  of  daughters  in  a 
serious  light ; and  it  is  difficult  at  present  to 
see  how  a Catholic  girl  could  acquire  the 
training  that  would  entitle  her  to  claim  such 
a salary ; if  she  had  no  money  to  spend  upon 
training,  it  is  certain  that  she  could  not. 

A non-Catholic  commanding  a salary  of 
£100  to  £150  as  a private  governess  would 
be  expected  to  have  taken  an  Honor  School 
at  a University,  and  to  hold  in  addition  a 
teaching  certificate. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  what  would  be  the 
counterpart  of  these  qualifications  for  the 
Catholic  girl,  or  what  would  represent  any- 
thing like  the  same  previous  study,  unless  it 
were,  over  and  above  such  certificates  as 
were  within  her  reach  to  gain,  a thorough 
mastery  of  several  foreign  languages  and 
perfect  familiarity  with  the  manners  of  the 
best  society.  In  the  world  at  large  the  hold- 
ing of  a mere  certificate  for  teaching  is  ac- 
counted of  very  little  value,  and  is  regarded 
as  merely  a supplement  to  the  sound  general 
training  represented  by  a degree,  so  that  we 
may  reasonably  suppose  that  in  a few  years 
Catholics  will  come  to  take  the  same  view, 
and  will  demand  in  a high-salaried  private 
governess  some  very  solid  attainments. 


Professional  Life 


73 


With  regard  to  the  many  private  teach- 
ing posts  offered  at  salaries  from  £50  and 
under,  these  may  reasonably  be  held  by  girls 
who  will,  in  the  natural  course  of  events, 
inherit  money  later  on  in  life,  and  who  mere- 
ly desire  occupation  and  pocket-money  for 
the  present ; but  they  should  be  regarded  as 
absolutely  closed  doors  to  those  entirely  de- 
pendent on  their  own  resources. 

It  seems  a little  hard,  for,  when  all  is  said 
and  done,  many  girls  and  naturally  more 
often  the  homeless  ones,  have  a lingering 
preference  for  a post  which,  with  all  its  draw- 
backs, offers  them  a share,  albeit  a thin  and 
indefinite  one,  in  a home;  and  if  the  home 
atmosphere  is  a good  one  this  share  is  cer- 
tainly a privilege  to  be  desired. 

The  safer  way  of  seeking  it  is  through  the 
door  of  “companionships.”  There  is  this 
great  advantage  about  the  post  of  “compan- 
ion,” that  it  is  almost  invariably  obtained 
through  private  introduction,  thus  ensuring 
some  kinship  of  social  worlds  which  at  once 
smoothes  many  difficulties.  The  chances  of 
marriage  are  greater,  the  share  in  some  so- 
ciety is  certain,  and  the  possibility  of  forming 
useful  friends  follows.  The  “companion”  is 
not  so  soon  superannuated  as  the  governess, 
the  tie  is  closer,  and  the  obligation  to  be- 
friend her  would  be  considered  more  bind- 
ing. Again,  the  requirements  of  a compan- 
ion are  such  as  could  be  admirably  gained  in 


74  Light  for  New  Times 


a convent  school.  Courteous  and  amiable 
manners,  accomplishments,  tact,  adaptability, 
good  temper,  and  capability.  There  are  far 
more  posts  of  this  kind  than  suitable  people 
to  fill  them,  infirmities  of  temper  and  char- 
acter being  frequent  disqualifications.  I need 
not  insist  upon  the  fact  that  even  in  these 
posts  some  salary  must  be  demanded  that 
will  allow  of  saving. 

There  remain  a few  posts  as  private  secre- 
taryships, also  usually  privately  obtained  and 
requiring  rather  higher  mental  powers  than 
the  “companion,”  together  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  a foreign  language,  short-hand  and 
typewriting,  as  well  as  a reputation  for  tact 
and  discretion.  A good  secretary  soon  be- 
comes invaluable,  commands  a high  salary 
and  creditable  social  standing.  There  is  one 
opening  in  the  direction  of  teaching,  how- 
ever, that  is  distinctly  promising  even  for  the 
Catholic,  namely,  teaching  in  elementary 
schools.  There  is  a movement  among  non- 
Catholics  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  such  teachers 
more  and  more  from  men  and  women  of  the 
educated  classes  and  of  gentle  birth.  The 
gain  to  the  taught  is  obvious.  The  field  of 
interest  for  the  teacher  is  vast,  provided  that 
her  mental  outlook  be  wide  enough  to  grasp 
the  significance  of  elementary  teaching  to  the 
life  of  the  nation. 

It  is  the  one  teaching  profession  which  at 
the  present  time  is  not  overcrowded  ; the  pre- 


Professional  Life 


75 


vious  training  is  inexpensive,  the  hours  rea- 
sonable, the  holidays  sufficient,  and  the  pay 
good.  Age  is  no  disqualification,  so  that  the 
teaching  life  in  this  department  is  prolonged. 
An  assistant  in  London  commands  a salary 
from  £80  to  £115,  and  a head  mistress  one 
from  £140  to  £300.  In  the  country  the  pay 
is  rather  less.  Lastly,  the  elementary  teacher 
is  secure  of  a pension,  and  although  the  pen- 
sions are  at  present  modest — from  £20  to 
£40 — there  is  little  doubt  that  they  will  be 
soon  raised. 

The  main  drawback  for  a Catholic  girl 
would  be  a social  one.  Catholics  are  not  yet 
as  democratic  as  their  neighbors,  and  whereas 
a non-Catholic  elementary  teacher,  well  born 
and  well  educated,  is  sure  of  practical  social 
recognition  by  her  equals,  I fear  this  might 
not  as  yet  be  the  case  among  Catholics.  But, 
after  all,  this  matter,  like  many  others,  is  best 
worked  by  the  channel  of  private  introduc- 
tion, and  in  this  way  she  could  ensure,  where- 
ever  she  were,  some  intercourse  with  the  class 
into  which  she  was  born. 

I have  considered  teaching  first,  because 
that  seems  to  me  the  one  profession  in  which 
the  outlook  is  quite  different  for  a Catholic 
from  what  it  is  for  the  world  at  large. 

We  will  now  think  of  other  more  general 
openings  and  the  advantages  they  offer.  It 
is  an  almost  impossible  task  for  a girl  still  at 
school  to  inform  herself  accurately  as  to 


76  Light  for  New  Times 

where  these  openings  lie ; it  is  nearly  as  diffi- 
cult for  her  relatives,  should  they  be  living  in 
out-of-the-way  places.  The  need  of  a centre 
of  information  was  so  widely  felt  that  some 
years  ago  an  office  was  opened  in  London  for 
the  purpose,  under  the  title  of  “Central  Bu- 
reau for  the  Employment  of  Women.”* 

The  work  this  bureau  is  doing  is  literally 
“pioneer  work,”  and  the  study  of  the  subject 
of  women’s  labor  is  still  in  its  infancy,  but 
the  work  that  has  already  been  accomplished 
is  great.  Any  girl  writing  to  or,  better  still, 
having  an  interview  with  the  experienced 
secretary,  and  stating  in  what  direction  her 
wishes  lie,  rvhat  her  qualifications,  or  her 
chances  of  acquiring  them,  is  certain  of  ex- 
cellent practical  advice,  based  on  knowledge 
and  wide  experience.  The  secretary  is  in 
touch  with  the  varying  demands  for  skilled 
work  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and 
long  experience  enables  her  to  form  a very 
correct  opinion  as  to  the  personal  fitness  of 
the  applicant  for  the  work  she  desires. 

I shall  touch  only  lightly  and  in  a general 
way  upon  the  advantages  of  various  careers. 
Special  information  as  to  the  requisite  train- 
ings and  how  to  obtain  them  can  be  obtained 
at  any  time  from  the  Central  Bureau,  when 
not  available  from  some  local  source. 


* “Central  Bureau  for  the  Employment  of  Women/' 
9 Southampton  Street,  Holborn,  W.  C. 


Professional  Life 


77 


One  of  the  most  popular  careers  at  the 
present  time  is  hospital  nursing,  or  the  many 
branches  of  nursing  that  demand  hospital 
training.  The  profession  is  certainly  crowd- 
ed, but  not  overcrowded,  with  the  compe- 
tent; and  the  demand  for  nurses  is  likely  to 
increase  rather  than  diminish,  as  the  many 
schemes  for  providing  district  nurses  and  en- 
suring all  classes  throughout  the  country 
careful  nursing  in  sickness  develop. 

Good  health,  a clear  head,  quick  percep- 
tions, steady  nerves  and  a kind  heart  form 
part  of  the  necessary  equipment  for  a nurse. 
The  training  is  inexpensive — indeed  there 
are  still  hospitals  that  require  no  premium  at 
all — the  work  varied  and  interesting,  and 
openings  when  once  the  training  is  completed 
are  numerous  and  fairly  well  paid.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  in  considering  a nurse’s 
pay,  that  her  personal  expenses  are  very 
slight,  whether  as  private  nurse  or  hospital 
nurse ; her  board  and  lodging  are  assured,  the 
uniform  she  wears  is  very  inexpensive,  and 
thus  her  pay  is  almost  wholly  to  the  good, 
and  allows  easily  for  payment  into  a pension 
fund.  A movement  has  begun  in  America 
and  has  already  obtained  some  footing  in 
England,  for  training  and  employing  ladies 
as  nurses  for  children.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  in  a few  years  this  movement  will  gain 
ground,  when  its  immense  advantages  to  the 
child  and  the  home  are  generally  realized. 


78  Light  for  New  Times 

There  is  at  present  one  training  ground  in 
London — the  Norland  Institute.  Nurses 
starting  from  there  command  from  £36  to 
£70  a year,  and  already  the  Institute  is 
organizing  a pension  scheme  in  connection 
with  its  students.  The  training  extends  over 
a few  months,  as  compared  with  the  three 
and  four  years  of  that  for  hospital  nursing. 
This  branch  would  naturally  appeal  to  the 
more  home-loving  type  of  woman.  For 
Catholic  girls  the  openings  would  necessarily 
be  few,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
non-Catholics  wTould  not  often  employ  Catho- 
lic nurses.  Here,  too,  we  must  face  the  same 
social  obstacle  that  confronted  us  with  re- 
gard to  elementary  teaching. 

Let  us  now  suppose  you  are  an  out-of-door 
loving  girl,  fond  of  the  country,  of  the  gar- 
den and  of  animals,  and  possessing  enough 
general  intelligence  to  make  the  study  of 
theory  no  obstacle  to  you;  then  you  cannot 
do  better  than  turn  your  attention  to  the 
Women’s  Hostels,  established  for  the  study 
of  the  lighter  branches  of  agriculture,  such 
as  fruit,  flower  and  vegetable  gardening, 
dairy  work,  fruit-growing,  bee-keeping, 
poultry-farming,  etc.  Once  trained,  there 
are  openings  as  teachers  in  country  technical 
schools,  as  assistants  or  superintendents  to 
private  employers ; or  should  you  have  enter- 
prise and  a business  head,  there  is  the  possi- 
bility of  opening  in  some  part  of  the  country 


Professional  Life 


79 


on  your  own  account.  I need  not  point  out 
that  as  the  training  lasts  for  two  or  three 
years,  this  career  is  not  open  to  the  penniless. 

Another  branch  of  work  for  the  out-door- 
loving  girl  is  sanitary  inspection.  This  needs 
a certain  amount  of  brains,  since  some  study 
of  physics  and  chemistry,  of  building  con- 
struction, and  elementary  statistical  methods, 
is  necessary.  The  training,  however,  lasts 
six  months  only  and  costs  not  more  than  £12. 
The  actual  work  involves  the  inspection  of 
tenements,  workshops,  factories,  etc.;  it  is 
perhaps  monotonous,  but  regular  and  well 
paid.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that 
not  every  one  holding  a certificate  is  certain 
of  securing  a post. 

I daresay  all  the  openings  that  we  have 
been  discussing  may  appear  to  you  a little 
dreary,  and  secured  only  at  the  expense  of 
much  previous  labor,  and  your  thoughts  may 
be  turning  in  two  directions  that  appear  in  a 
golden  light,  and  that  apparently  can  be  en- 
tered without  any  preparation : literature  and 
the  stage. 

Now  as  regards  literature,  if  by  that  term 
you  understand  the  writing  for  small  maga- 
zines and  periodicals,  I will  not  deny  that 
much  success  and  very  satisfactory  incomes 
are  often  won  even  by  comparative  begin- 
ners, provided  that  they  have  a natural  gift 
for  constructing  a story  and  can  write  their 
mother  tongue  correctly.  I will  not  dogma- 


- 8o  Light  for  New  Times 

tize,  but  I should  advise  that  this  door  be 
tried  only  by  those  who  can  either  afford  to 
wait  indefinitely  for  success,  or  who  can  pro- 
duce attempts  in  fiction  in  the  leisure  of  some 
regular  working  life.  A little  private  influ- 
ence and  the  interest  of  anyone  in  practical 
touch  with  this  class  of  work  is  almost  essen- 
tial if  time  is  not  to  be  thrown  away. 

Howt  about  the  stage  ? Given  youth,  per- 
sonal attractions,  a little  intelligence,  and  the 
door  swings  open  magically,  just  far  enough 
for  you  to  get  one  foot  on — to  walk  on  as  a 
silent  member  of  some  troupe,  in  a dress  sup- 
plied by  the  management,  at  a salary  under 
£i  a week.  But  what  then?  There  is  no 
dramatic  college  in  England;  there  is  no 
training  obtainable,  other  than  what  can  be 
picked  up  as  a spectator,  supplemented  by 
possibly  some  lessons  in  elocution,  dancing, 
and  fencing.  Hundreds  would  compete  with 
you  for  the  chance  of  a part  with  a few  words 
to  say;  hundreds  would  be  waiting  to  take 
advantage  of  your  first  blunder.  The  higher 
you  rise  in  the  scale,  the  fewer  the  prizes,  the 
keener  the  competition.  It  is  an  exceedingly 
arduous  life,  full  of  hardships  and  of  bitter 
disappointments,  and,  without  private  influ- 
ence, an  almost  hopeless  one  for  all  but  those 
of  very  remarkable  gifts.  It  must  frankly  be 
owned,  too,  that  for  a girl,  unfamiliar  with 
the  atmosphere  of  the  theatrical  world  from 
early  association,  and  unprotected  by  rela- 


Professional  Life 


81 


tives  or  old  friends  in  the  profession,  the  life 
is  an  exceedingly  dangerous  one. 

We  now  come  to  a career  that  requires  a 
long  and  expensive  training — that  of  medi- 
cine. No  girl  would  contemplate  this  career 
who  had  not  an  exceedingly  strong  inclina- 
tion for  it,  intellectual  abilities  and  a certain 
amount  of  money  to  fall  back  upon.  The 
prizes  are  not  numerous,  and  the  making  of  a 
private  practice  by  a woman  doctor  is  very 
up-hill  work. 

There  is  still  a great  amount  of  prejudice 
to  be  lived  down  in  this  country.  Also  it  may 
be  questioned  whether  women  have  as  yet 
shown  themselves  eminently  qualified  for  sur- 
gery or  the  highest  branches  of  the  profession 
of  medicine. 

What  of  the  fine  arts  ? A girl  can  hardly 
be  said  to  choose  an  artistic  career;  she  is 
chosen  for  it  by  her  gifts  and  her  tempera- 
ment, and  this  because  the  possession  of  the 
very  qualities  that  make  for  success  as  an 
artist  usually  unfit  her  for  success  in  other 
work. 

The  training  for  the  highest  branches  is 
long,  very  long — six  or  seven  years  at  least. 
It  is  not  actually  expensive,  but  the  six  or 
seven  years  must  be  regarded  as  years  of 
spending  merely.  As  a means  of  livelihood 
painting  is  precarious  even  for  the  skilled. 
Thousands  of  pictures,  the  painting  of  which 
has  entailed  great  expense,  and  which  have 


82 


Light  for  New  Times 


secured  good  places  on  the  walls  of  an  exhibi- 
tion, remain  unsold  every  year.  Every  artist 
knows  what  it  is  to  have  a little  run  of  luck 
and  then  long  periods  of  disappointment  at 
some  time  or  other  in  his  career. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  life  of  an  art 
student  is  probably  as  delightful  a one  as  can 
be  found,  and  the  hours  spent  in  creative 
work  are  hours  of  pure  enjoyment.  An  artist 
is  therefore  more  easily  reconciled  to  poverty 
than  one  whose  interests  are  more  bound  up 
with  the  possession  of  worldly  goods.  But 
even  the  most  light-hearted  artist  cannot  live 
upon  air;  and  if  a girl  is  quite  without  pri- 
vate means  she  cannot  hope  for  a career  as  an 
exhibitor  merely,  or  even  for  the  happiness 
of  giving  full  play  to  her  creative  gifts  in 
congenial  lines,  a certain  amount  of  capital 
being  necessary  for  the  production  of  any 
serious  picture. 

Physical  strength  and  health  are  so  essen- 
tial for  the  production  of  strong  work  that 
privations,  however  willingly  endured,  soon 
defeat  their  own  end.  There  is  luckily  ample 
work  for  the  competent  in  more  modest 
branches — in  the  illustrating  of  books  and 
periodicals,  or  in  designing,  and  doing  prac- 
tical work  in  the  many  branches  of  the  ap- 
plied arts.  Firms  of  decorators  frequently 
employ  women.  There  are  numerous  posts 
for  teachers  in  connection  with  technical  and 
secondary  schools.  Much  is  also  to  be  done 


Professional  Life 


83 


by  an  artist  with  the  gift  of  teaching  in  the 
way  of  opening  art  classes  in  parts  of  the 
country  remote  from  any  existing  art  teach- 
ing centre.  No  girl  with  a real  creative  gift, 
with  initiative  and  with  energy,  need  ever  be 
at  a loss  to  find  an  opening  for  her  powers, 
provided — and  this  applies  to  every  branch 
of  the  arts — she  is  thoroughly  trained.  Great 
natural  gifts  may  give  the  untrained  a start 
for  a few  years,  but  inevitably  the  trained 
will  tread  upon  their  heels  and  finally  push 
them  aside. 

You  Catholic  girls  find  all  these  doors 
ready  opened  for  you;  it  is  for  you  only  to 
choose  whether  you  will  enter  or  no.  If  you 
enter,  do  not  withhold  thoughts  of  gratitude 
for  those  who  forced  them  open.  It  was  the 
will  of  God  in  past  centuries  that  Catholic 
women  should  be  hidden  in  the  faith,  pre- 
serving the  spirit  of  worship  and  prayer 
within  convent  walls  and  within  the  home. 
It  was  also  His  will  that  other  women  should 
undertake  a heavy  task,  no  less  than  the  forg- 
ing of  another  link  in  the  chain  of  human 
progress.  The  lives  of  the  women  who  la- 
bored to  this  end,  amidst  a storm  of  opposi- 
tion, of  contempt,  and  of  slander,  remain  for 
the  most  part  as  yet  unwritten. 

Those  of  us  who  saw  something  of  even 
the  latter  end  of  the  struggle  know  the  acute 
moral  suffering  they  were  called  upon  to  en- 
dure, which  you  of  to-day  can  hardly  guess 


84  Light  for  New  Times 


at.  They  suffered  gladly  for  a cause  in  which 
they  had  faith,  and  they  were  women  of  sin- 
cere and  earnest  purpose. 

May  we  not  dream  of  a time  when  Catho- 
lic women,  entering  into  the  heritage  thus 
won  and  mingling  with  the  intellectual  chil- 
dren of  those  who  fought  for  it,  shall  bring 
to  them  the  priceless  knowledge  of  the  true 
faith?  May  not  the  blending  of  these  two 
spirits  make  women  yet  more  truly  children 
of  Mary,  who  is  Rosa  Mystica,  but  also  Sedes 
Sapientiae  ? 


PRINTED  BY  BENZIGER  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


Standard  Catholic  Books 

PUBLISHED  BY 

BENZIGER  BROTHERS, 

Cincinnati:  NEW  YORK:  Chicago: 

343  MAIN  ST.  36  AND  38  BARCLAY  ST.  211-213  MADISON  ST. 


DOCTRINE,  INSTRUCTION,  DEVOTION. 


Abandonment;  or  Absolute  Surrender  of  Self  to  Divine  Providence. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Caussade,  S.J.  net , o 40 

Adoration  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Tesni&re.  net,  1 25 
Anecdotes  and  Examples  Illustrating  the  Catholic  Catechism. 
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chism, and  Edited  by  Rev.  James  J.  Baxter,  D.D.  net , 1 50 
Apostles’  Creed,  The.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net , 1 10 


Art  of  Profiting  by  Our  Faults.  Rev.  J.  Tissot.  net , o 40 

Beginnings  of  Christianity.  By  Very  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Shahan, 
S.T.D.,  J.U.L.,  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  Catholic 
University  of  Washington.  net,  2 00 

Bible  History.  o 50 

Bible  History,  Practical  Explanation  and  Application  of. 
Nash.  net,  1 50 


Bible,  The  Holy.  i 00 

Book  of  the  Professed. 

Vol.  I.  net,  o 75 

Vol.  II.  Vol.  III.  Each,  net,  o 60 

Boys  and  Girls’  Mission  Book.  By  the  Redemptorist  Fathers. 

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Catechism  Explained,  The.  Spirago-Clarke.  net,  2 50 


Catholic  Belief.  Faa  di  Bruno.  Paper,  0.25;  100  copies,  15  00 
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Catholic  Practice  at  Church  and  at  Home.  Klauder. 

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Cloth,  0.60;  25  copies,  9 00 

Catholic  Teaching  for  Children.  Winifride  Wray.  o 40 

Catholic  Worship.  Rev.  R.  Brennan,  LL.D. 

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Characteristics  of  True  Devotion.  Grou,  S.J.  net . o 75 


1 


Charity  the  Origin  of  Every  Blessing.  o 6o 

Child  of  Mary.  Prayer-Book.  o 60 

Child’s  Prayer-Book  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  o 20 

Christian  Doctrine,  Spirago’s  Method  of.  Edited  by  Bishop 
Messmer.  net,  1 50 

Christian  Father.  Cramer.  Paper,  0.25;  25  copies,  3 75 

Cloth,  0.40;  25  copies,  6 00 

Christian  Mother.  Cramer.  Paper,  0.25;  25  copies,  3 75 

Cloth,  0.40;  25  copies,  6 00 

Church  and  Her  Enemies.  Rev.  M.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net , 1 10 

Comedy  of  English  Protestantism.  A.  F.  Marshall.  net , o 75 


Confession.  Paper,  0.05;  per  100,  net,  3 50 

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Communion.  Paper,  0.05;  per  100,  net,  3 50 

Complete  Office  of  Holy  Week.  o 50 

Devotion  of  the  Holy  Rosary  and  the  Five  Scapulars,  net,  075 
Devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  From  the  German  of 
Rev.  H.  Noldin,  S.J.  Revised  by  W.  H.  Kent,  O.S.C.  net,  1 25 
Devotions  and  Prayers  for  the  Sick-Room.  Krebs,  C.SS.R. 

net,  1 00 

Devotions  for  First  Friday.  Huguet.  o 40 

Dignity  and  Duties  of  the  Priest;  or  Selva,  a Collection  of 
Material  for  Ecclesiastical  Retreats.  By  St.  Alphonsus  de 
Liguori.  net,  1 25 

Dignity,  Authority,  Duties  of  Parents,  Ecclesiastical  and 

Civil  Powers.  By  Rev.  M.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net,  1 40 

Divine  Grace.  A Series  of  Instructions  arranged  according  to 
the  Baltimore  Catechism.  Edited  by  Rev.  Edmund  J.  Wirth, 
Ph.D.,  D.D.  net,  1 50 

Divine  Office:  Explanations  of  the  Psalms  and  Canticles.  By  St. 

Alphonsus  de  Liguori.  net,  1 25 

Epistles  and  Gospels.  Large  Print.  o 25 

Eucharist  and  Penance.  Rev.  M.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net,  1 10 
Eucharistic  Christ.  Reflections  and  Considerations  on  the 
Blessed  Sacrament.  Rev.  A.  Tesni&re.  net,  1 00 


Eucharistic  Gems.  A Thought  about  the  Most  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment for  Every  Day  in  the  Year.  Coelenbier.  o 75 

Explanation  of  Commandments,  Illustrated.  i 00 

Explanation  of  the  Apostles’  Creed,  Illustrated.  i 00 

Explanation  of  the  Baltimore  Catechism  of  Christian  Doc- 
trine. Rev.  Th.  L.  Kinkead.  net,  1 00 

Explanation  of  the  Commandments,  Precepts  of  the  Church. 

Rev.  M.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net,  1 10 

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A.  Lambert.  Paper,  0.30;  25  copies,  4 5° 

Cloth,  0.60;  25  copies,  9 00 

Explanation  of  the  Holy  Sacraments,  Illustrated.  i 00 

Explanation  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  Rev.  M.  v. 
Cochem.  1 25 


2 


Explanation  of  the  Our  Father  and  the  Hail  Mary.  Rev. 


R.  Brennan,  LL.D.  075 

Explanation  of  the  Prayers  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Mass, 
Illustrated.  Rev.  D.  I.  Lanslots,  O.S.B.  1 25 

Explanation  of  the  Salve  Regina.  Liguori.  o 75 

Extreme  Unction.  Paper,  0.10;  100  copies,  6 00 

First  and  Greatest  Commandment.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net , 1 40 

First  Communicant’s  Manual.  o 50 

Flowers  of  the  Passion.  Thoughts  of  St.  Paul  of  the  Cross.  By- 
Rev.  Louis  Th.  de  J^sus-Agonisant.  o 50 

Following  of  Christ.  Thomas  b.  Kempis. 

With  Reflections,  o 50 

Without  Reflections,  o 45 

Edition  de  luxe,  1 25 

Four  Last  Things,  The.  Death,  Judgment,  Heaven,  Hell.  Med- 
itations. Father  M.  v.  Cochem.  Cloth,  o 75 

Garland  of  Prayer.  With  Nuptial  Mass.  Leather.  o 90 

General  Confession  Made  Easy.  Rev.  A.  Konings,  C.SS.R. 

Flexible,  0.1  s ; 100  copies,  10  00 

General  Principles  of  the  Religious  Life.  Verheyen.  net,  o 30 
Glories  of  Divine  Grace.  Dr.  M.  J.  Scheeben.  net,  1 50 

Glories  of  Mary.  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori.  2 vols.  net,  2 50 
Popular  ed.,  1 vol.,  1 25 

God  the  Teacher  of  Mankind.  Muller.  9 vols.  Per  set,  9 50 

Goffine’s  Devout  Instructions.  140  Illustrations.  Cloth  1 00 

25  copies,  17  So 


Golden  Sands.  Little  Counsels  for  the  Sanctification  and  Hap- 
piness of  Daily  Life. 

Third,  fourth  and  fifth  series.  each  o 50 

Grace  and  the  Sacraments.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net,  1 25 

Great  Means  of  Salvation  and  of  Perfection.  St.  Alphonsus 
de  Liguori.  net,  1 25 

Great  Supper  of  God,  The.  By  Rev.  S.  Coub£,  S.J.  Edited  by 
Rev.  F.  X.  Brady,  S.J.  Cloth,  net,  1 00 


Greetings  to  The  Christ-Child,  a Collection  of  Poems  for  the 
Young.  Illustrated.  o 60 


Guide  to  Confession  and  Communion. 


o 60 


Handbook  of  the  Christian  Religion.  Wilmers,  S.J.  net,  1 50 

Harmony  of  the  Religious  Life.  Heuser.  net,  1 25 

Help  for  the  Poor  Souls  in  Purgatory.  Prayers  and  Devotions 
in  aid  of  the  Suffering  Souls.  o 50 

Helps  to  a Spiritual  Life.  From  the  German  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Schneider,  S.J.  With  Additions  by  Rev.  F.  Girardey,  C.SS.R. 

net , 1 25 

Hidden  Treasure:  The  Value  and  Excellence  of  the  Holy  Mass. 

By  St.  Leonard  of  Port  Maurice.  o 50 

History  of  the  Mass.  By  Rev.  J.  O’Brien.  net,  1 25 

Holy  Eucharist.  By  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori,  net,  1 25 

Holy  Mass.  By  Rev.  M.  Muller,  C.SS.R.  net,  1 25 


3 


Holy  Mass.  By  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori.  net , 

How  to  Comfort  the  Sick.  Krebs,  C.SS.R.  net , 

How  to  Make  the  Mission.  By  a Dominican  Father.  Paper, 
per  ioo, 

Illustrated  Prayer-Book  for  Children. 

Imitation  of  Christ.  See  “Following  of  Christ.” 

Imitation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  Translated  by  Mrs.  A. 
R.  Bennett-Gladstone. 

Plain  Edition, 

Edition  de  luxe, 

Imitation  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  By  Rev.  F.  Amoudt,  S.J. 

tirely  new,  reset  edition, 

Immaculate  Conception,  The.  By  Rev.  A.  A.  Lambing,  LL.D. 

o 35 

Incarnation,  Birth,  and  Infancy  of  Jesus  Christ;  or,  The 
Mysteries  of  Faith.  By  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori.  net,  i 25 
Indulgences,  A Practical  Guide  to.  Bernad,  O.M.I. 

In  Heaven  We  Know  Our  Own.  By  Pere  Blot,  S.J. 
Instructions  and  Prayers  for  the  Catholic  Father. 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  Egger. 

Instructions  and  Prayers  for  the  Catholic  Mother. 

Rev.  Dr.  A.  Egger.  o 60 

Instructions  and  Prayers  for  Catholic  Youth.  o 60 

Instructions  for  First  Communicants.  Schmitt.  net,  o 50 
Instructions  on  the  Commandments  of  God  and  the  Sacraments 
of  the  Church.  By  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori. 

Paper,  0.25;  25  copies, 

Cloth,  0.40;  25  copies, 

Interior  of  Jesus  and  Mary.  Grou.  2 vols.  net, 

Introduction  to  a Devout  Life.  By  St.  Francis  de  Sales. 

Cloth, 

Letters  of  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguopi.  4 vols.,  each  vol.,  net,  1 25 
Letters  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori  and  General  Alphabetical  Index 


25 

00 


25 


0 50 

1 50 
En- 

1 25 


° 75 
o 60 

Right 

o 60 

Right 


3 75 
6 00 


50 


to  St.  Alphonsus’  Works. 

Little  Altar  Boys’  Manual. 

Little  Book  of  Superiors.  “Golden  Sands.” 

Little  Child  of  Mary.  A Small  Pra}'er-Book. 

Little  Manual  of  St.  Anthony.  Lasance. 

Little  Manual  of  St.  Joseph.  Lings. 

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As  True  as  Gold.  Mary  E.  Mannix. 

Berkleys,  The.  Emma  Howard  Wight. 

Bertha;  or,  Consequences  of  a Fault. 

Better  Part. 

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The  Best  Foot  Forward. 

Ethelred  Preston. 

Claude  Lightfoot. 

Harry  Dee. 

Tom  Playfair. 

Percy  Wynn. 

Mostly  Boys. 

Fisherman’s  Daughter. 

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o 45 
o 45 
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o 25 
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o 25 
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o 45 
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1 00 
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o 45 


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Harry  Russell.  A Rockland  College  Boy.  By  Rev.  J.  E. 

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Hop  Blossoms.  Canon  Schmid.  o 25 

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Inundation,  The.  Canon  Schmid.  o 40 

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Jack  O’ Lantern.  Mary  T.  Waggaman.  o 45 

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Klondike  Picnic.  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly.  o 85 

Lamp  of  the  Sanctuary.  Cardinal  Wiseman.  o 25 

Legends  of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus  from  Many  Lands.  A.  Fowler 
Lutz.  o 7s 

Little  Missy.  Mary  T.  Waggaman.  o 45 

Loyal  Blue  and  Royal  Scarlet.  Marion  A.  Taggart.  o 85 

Madcap  Set  at  St.  Anne’s.  Marion  J.  Brunowe.  o 45 

Marcelle.  A True  Story.  045 

Mary  Tracy’s  Fortune.  Anna  T.  Sadlier.  o 45 

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Old  Charlmont’s  Seed-Bed.  Sara  Trainer  Smith.  o 45 

Old  Robber’s  Castle.  Canon  Schmid.  o 25 

Olive  and  the  Little  Cakes.  o 45 

Our  Boys’  and  Girls’  Library.  14  vols.  Each,  o 25 

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Pauline  Archer.  Anna  T.  Sadlier.  o 45 

Pickle  and  Pepper.  Ella  Loraine  Dorsey.  o 85 

10 


( 


Playwater  Plot,  The.  By  Mary  T.  Waggaman.  o 60 

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Queen’s  Page.  Katharine  Tynan  Hinkson.  o 45 

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Richard;  or,  Devotion  to  the  Stuarts.  o 45 

Rose  Bush.  Canon  Schmid.  o 25 

Saint  Cuthbert’s.  By  Rev.  J.  E.  Copus,  S.J.  o 85 

Sea-Gull’s  Rock.  J.  Sandeau.  o 45 

Shadows  Lifted.  Rev.  J.  E.  Copus,  S.J.  o 8s 

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Talisman,  The.  By  Anna  T.  Sadlier.  o 60 

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Tom’s  Luckpot.  Mary  T.  Waggaman.  o 45 

Transplanting  of  Tessie,  The.  By  Mary  T.  Waggaman.  o 60 
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Two  Little  Girls.  By  Lilian  Mack.  o 45 

Village  Steeple,  The.  o 45 

Wager  of  Gerald  O’Rourke,  The.  Finn-Thiele.  net , o 35 

Winnetou,  the  Apache  Knight.  Marion  Ames  Taggart.  o 85 
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Young  Color  Guard,  The.  By  Mary  G.  Bonesteel.  o 45 

NOVELS  AND  STORIES. 

“But  Thy  Love  and  Thy  Grace.”  Rev.  F.  J.  Finn,  S.J.  1 00 

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Circus  Rider’s  Daughter,  The.  A Novel.  F.  v.  Brackel.  1 25 
Connor  D’Arcy’s  Struggles.  A Novel.  Bertholds.  1 25 

Corinne’s  Vow.  Mary  T.  Waggaman.  1 25 

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Heiress  of  Cronenstein,  The.  Countess  Hahn-Hahn.  1 25 

Her  Father’s  Daughter.  Katharine  Tynan  Hinkson.  net , 1 25 
Idols;  or,  The  Secret  of  the  Rue  Chauss^e  d’Antin.  De  Navery. 

1 25 

In  the  Days  of  King  Hal.  Marion  Ames  Taggart.  net,  1 25 
“Kind  Hearts  and  Coronets.”  A Novel.  By  J.  Harrison.  1 25 
Let  No  Man  Put  Asunder.  A Novel.  Josephine  Mari6.  1 00 
11 


Linked  Lives.  A Novel.  Lady  Gertrude  Douglas.  i 50 

Marcella  Grace.  A Novel.  Rosa  Mulholland.  Illustrated 


Edition. 

Miss  Erin.  A Novel.  M.  E.  Francis. 

Monk’s  Pardon,  The.  Raoul  de  Navery. 

Mr.  Billy  Buttons.  A Novel.  Walter  Lecky.  3 

Outlaw  of  Camargue,  The.  A Novel.  A.  de  Lamothe.  : 
Passing  Shadows.  A Novel.  Anthony  Yorke.  3 

Pere  Monnier’s  Ward.  A Novel.  Walter  Lecky. 
Pilkington  Heir,  The.  A Novel.  By  Anna  T.  Sadlier. 
Prodigal’s  Daughter,  The.  Lelia  Hardin  Bugg. 

Red  Inn  of  St.  Lyphar,  The.  A Romance  of  La  Vendee. 


25 

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Anna  T.  Sadlier. 

Romance  of  a Playwright.  Vte.  Henri  de  Bomier. 

Round  Table  of  the  Representative  American  Catholic 
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Round  Table  of  the  Representative  French  Catholic  Novel- 
ists. 1 50 

Round  Table  of  the  Representative  German  Catholic 
Novelists.  Illustrated.  1 50 

Round  Table  of  the  Representative  Irish  and  English  Cath- 
olic Novelists.  i 50 

Ruler  of  The  Kingdom,  The.  And  other  Phases  of  Life  and 
Character.  By  Grace  Keon.  1 25 

That  Man’s  Daughter.  By  Henry  M.  Ross.  1 25 

True  Story  of  Master  Gerard,  The.  By  Anna  T.  Sadlier.  1 25 
Unraveling  of  a Tangle,  The.  By  Marion  A.  Taggart.  1 25 
Vocation  of  Edward  Conway.  A Novel.  Maurice  F.  Egan.  1 25 
Way  that  Led  Beyond,  The.  By  J.  Harrison.  1 25 

Woman  of  Fortune,  A.  Christian  Reid.  1 25 

World  Well  Lost.  Esther  Robertson.  o 75 


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Autobiography  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola.  Edited  by  Rev.  J.  F.  X. 

O’ Conor.  Cloth.  net,  1 25 

Bible  Stories  for  Little  Children.  Paper,  0.10.  Cloth,  o 20 
Church  History.  Businger.  o 75 

Historiographia  Ecclesiastica  quam  Historiae  seriam  Solidamque 
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History  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Brueck.  2 vols.  net,  3 00 
History  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Shea.  1 50 

History  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  in  England  and 
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Letters  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori.  Rev.  Eugene  Grimm,  C.SS.R. 

Centenary  Edition.  5 vols.,  each,  net,  1 25 

Life  and  Life-Work  of  Mother  Theodore  Guerin,  Foundress 
of  the  Sisters  of  Providence  at  St.-Mary-of-the-Woods,  Vigo 
County,  Indiana.  *****  2 00 

12 


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Life  of  Christ.  Illustrated.  Father  M.  v.  Cochem. 

Life  of  Fr.  Francis  Poilvache,  C.SS.R.  Paper,  net,  o 20 

Life  of  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes.  Brann.  net,  o 75 

Life  of  Mother  Fontbonne,  Foundress  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 
of  Lyons.  Abbe  Rivaux.  Cloth,  net , 1 25 

Life  of  Sister  Anne  Katherine  Emmerich,  of  the  Order  of  St. 


net,  1 


Augustine.  Rev.  Thomas  Wegener,  O.S.A. 

Life  of  St.  Anthony.  Ward.  Illustrated. 

Life  of  St.  Catharine  of  Sienna.  Edward  L.  Aym£,  M.D. 
Life  of  St.  Clare  of  Montefalco.  Locke,  O.S.A.  net, 
Life  of  Mlle.  Le  Gras.  . net, 

Life  of  St.  Chantal.  Bougaud.  2 vols.  net. 

Life  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Illustrated.  Rohner,  O.S.B. 
Little  Lives  of  Saints  for  Children.  Illustrated.  Cloth, 


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Little  Pictorial  Lives  of  the  Saints.  New,  cheap  edition.  1 00 
Lives  of  the  Saints.  With  Reflections  for  Every  Day.  1 50 

Our  Lady  of  Good  Counsel  in  Genazzano.  o 75 

Pictorial  Lives  of  the  Saints.  Cloth,  2 50 

Reminiscences  of  Rt.  Rev.  E.  P.  Wadhams,  net,  1 00 

St.  Anthony,  the  Saint  of  the  Whole  World.  o 75 

Story  of  Jesus.  Illustrated.  o 60 

Story  of  the  Divine  Child.  Very  Rev.  Dean  A.  A.  Lings,  o 75 
Victories  of  the  Martyrs.  St.  Alphonsus  de  Liguori.  net , 1 25 
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THEOLOGY,  LITURGY,  SERMONS,  SCIENCE,  AND 
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Blessed  Sacrament,  Sermons  on  the.  Edited  by  Rev.  F.  X. 

Lasance.  net,  1 50 

Breve  Compendium  Theologiae  Dogmaticae  et  Moralis. 

Berthier.  net,  2 50 

Children  of  Mary,  Sermons  for  the.  From  the  Italian  of 
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Children’s  Masses,  Sermons  for.  Frassinetti-Lings.  net,  1 50 
Christian  Apologetics.  By  Rev.  W.  Devivier,  S.J.  Edited  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  S.  G.  Messmer,  D.D.  net,  1 75 

Christian  Philosophy.  A Treatise  on  the  Human  Soul.  Rev. 

J.  T.  Driscoll,  S.T.L.  net,  1 50 

Christian  Philosophy:  God.  Driscoll.  net,  1 25 

Christ  in  Type  and  Prophecy.  Maas,  S.J.  2 vols.,  net,  4 00 
Church  Announcement  Book.  net,  o 25 

Church  Treasurer’s  Pew-Collection  and  Receipt  Book,  net,  1 00 
Compendium  Juris  Canonici.  Smith.  net,  2 00 

Compendium  Juris  Regularium.  EdiditP.  Aug.  Bachofen,«^,  2 50 
Compendium  Sacrae  Liturgiae  Juxta  Ritum  Romanum,  Wapel- 
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Confessional,  The.  Right  Rev.  A.  Roeggl,  D.D. 

De  Philosophia  Morali  Praelectiones.  Russo. 

Ecclesiastical  Dictionary.  Rev.  John  Thein. 

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Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.  net, 

Funeral  Sermons.  Rev.  Aug.  Wirth,  O.S.B.  2 vols.,  net. 
General  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scriptures. 

Francis  E.  Gigot,  S.S.  Cloth,  net, 

God  Knowable  and  Known.  Rev.  Maurice  Ronayne,  S.J.we*, 

Good  Christian,  The.  Rev.  J.  Allen,  D.D.  2 vols.,  net, 
History  of  the  Mass.  Rev.  John  O’Brien.  net, 

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Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Scriptures.  Gigot.  net,  1 50 
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Jesus  Living  in  the  Priest.  Millet-Byme.  net,  2 00 

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Short  Sermons  for  Low  Masses.  Schouppe,  S.J.  net,  1 25 
Socialism  Exposed  and  Refuted.  Cathrein.  net,  1 50 

Special  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Part  I.  Gigot.  net,  1 50 

Synopsis  Theologiae  Dogmaticae.  Tanquerey,  S.S.  3 vols., 

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Views  of  Dante.  By  E.  L.  Rivard,  C.S.V.  net,  1 25 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


A Gentleman.  M.  F.  Egan,  LL.D.  o 75 

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Catholic  Home  Annual.  Stories  by  Best  Writers.  o 25 

Correct  Thing  for  Catholics,  The.  Lelia  Hardin  Bugg.  o 75 
Eve  of  the  Reformation,  The.  Bishop  Stang.  net,  o 25 

Guide  for  Sacristans.  net,  o 75 

How  to  Get  On.  Rev.  Bernard  Feeney.  1 00 

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